


My lover is a Doll

by Banshee27



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Doll Natsu, F/M, Fairytale like story with Curses, Female Natsu Dragneel, Female Rogue Cheney, Gratsu - Freeform, Hyper Natsu, Memory Loss, Pretty Natsu, characters might be a bit OC, genderbender, some OC characters dying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 81,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25311271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banshee27/pseuds/Banshee27
Summary: Natsu Dragneel, a beauty from heaven, is what all the guys thought about her. But misfortune was bestowed upon her, after rejecting a lady witch who fell in love with her. Now a curse was placed upon her life, and it will be removed, if her true love will come. That is, if it will come.
Relationships: Alzack Connell/Bisca Mulan, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe, Zeref Dragneel/Mavis Vermillion
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Grammar Mistakes and Misspellings. I don't own Fairy Tail. The goal is to finish this series within the year.

Once upon a time, there lived a young girl. This girl has hair as pink as a cherry petal, her skin might not be as white as snow, but her stunning charm, beauty, and her perfect body never fail to capture your heart. Her eyes are shining black with happiness, as she played basketball with her friends. 

"Natsu, Pass it here" A male friend of hers called. The not so ladylike lass showed an evil smirk on her face and passed the ball towards the said man. The man took it without fail and started running towards their goal. The pink-haired lass was able to run away from the man guarding her against the ball, and she started running to the guy dribbling the ball.

"Give it to me" She shouted, smiling cheerfully.

Her teammate tossed the ball towards her, and she started to run heading to another one of her teammates.

"Hey, you jerk. Toss me to the ring" The pink-haired lass ordered. The man clasped his hands, preparing his hands for the force. A foot was placed on his hand, and he threw it towards the ring. The cherry haired girl jumped from his hands and dunked the ball to the ring. The buzz rang and the game ended.

Loud cheers and shouts were heard inside the gym, shouting with joy and throwing the pink-haired lady in the air, for winning the game.

"Nice play, Natsu," a male cheered, giving her thumbs up.

"Well yeah, who do you think I am? I am Natsu Dragneel, the strongest female dragon slayer" she shouted, lighting her hands with fire.

"What's the connection?" another one shouted.

"IDIOT, it means no one can defeat me" she boasted. Evil laughter escaping from her throat. Their cheer was disrupted when a bell sang around the campus. Students started heading their way back to their classroom, waiting for their lessons to finish.

Hours passed by, and the pink-haired lass was on her way to change her shoes. She started walking her way towards the gate when a sudden call from a lady halted her steps.

"Excuse me, Are you perhaps Natsu Dragneel?" The black-haired lady inquired. But already has known the pink lass's identity.

"Yes, That's me" she replied smiling, earning a blush from the lady.

"I would like to speak with you if you don't mind."

"Okay" she replied innocently, forgetting rules to never follow a stranger.

The two started heading their way to a park, straight towards the tall trees. They halted their steps, and the black-haired lady faced her companion.

"Please go out with me" The woman blurted.

Natsu was caught dumbfounded and her eyes remained on the girl. "Wh-WHAT?" she shouted in surprise.

"Well, I've been stalking you since we first met, and I fell in love at first sight."

"HUH? STALKING? YOU?!"

"Go out with me!" She declared again, like talking to a servant.

Natsu composed herself, releasing a heavy sigh from her lips and her mouth opened to say "No, I mean. Thank you for telling me what you feel but. No, I am a girl. I may act like a boy, but I don't go that way." Natsu reasoned.

The black-haired lass, had her face scowling, making Natsu shiver. "Fine then. If I can't have you. No one will" the mad lady grumbled. She threw herself towards the pink-haired brunette and placed her hand on her forehead. Her hand started to shine as she started murmuring words to her ear. Before Natsu can break free with her magic, her mind starts to wander on its own, unable to think.

"Oh, May this spell be heard, I bestow a curse upon a lass. Her body will shrink to a doll, and her skin will be hard as an expensive stone. Her heart will be as soft as a cloud, that a small wound will have her gone." The black-haired lady chanted, making Natsu shouts and shiver from fear. "This curse will be gone if your true love will come. But I assure you before that happens. You will be gone." she ended, the light from her hand started to fade, holding a toddler life-sized doll on her hand.

The mad lady started to cry dramatically, placing her hands on the doll's checks "If only you had said yes, this wouldn't have happened. But your words brought this upon you, So blame no one but you." a chuckle was heard from her throat, as she started laughing hysterically. She started walking away from the park, with the doll still on her hands.

She walked towards an alley and found a cat. The cat has a black fur and pink paws, that she started charging herself towards the poor cat, leaving the doll alone on the street.

Days passed and news about the missing girl was reported, pictures of a pink-haired girl were printed on a paper with a word missing below. The town started to search for the missing girl but found nothing. Leaving her friends and her family depressed, from her sudden disappearance.

The orphan house where she lived, felt dismayed and pain in their hearts. Still hoping for the cheerful girl to come back home, smiling, telling them she was just lost. But their hopes started to fade as months had passed.

A brown-haired high school girl was on her way home chanting and practicing reading ancient spells, she was walking with the book on her hand, reading. When her foot caught on something, which made her fall to the ground, giving her a kiss from the dirt.

"That hurts, what was that?" She grumbled, turning her head looking for the source of her fall. Her eyes widen upon seeing a beautiful doll. Her heart was immediately captured by the doll's eyes and picked it up, taking the doll home with her, as if she owned it.

A year has passed and the story will continue with the man of our doll's love.


	2. Episode 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just Additional notes: This story came unto my mind when reading Lover's doll by Mishima Kazuhiko, a YAOI MANGA. I really liked that story and decided what if, I'll base my fanfiction on this one, and so this is the result. Hope you will like it.

A bluish silver-haired man slowly made his way to his brother's room, walking on his toes, planning for some mischief. He clasped his other hand and placed it above his open palm. "Ice makes, Snow Tiger" he whispered softly, so as not to wake the sleeping boy.

Slowly the tiger formed and stood on top of the sleeping man. Its' mouth wide open, as if to eat the head of the man. A loud roar was heard from the tiger, and the man was shocked to see a tiger on top of him. "ICE MAKE: SWORD" The man shouted in reflex, thrusting the sharp ice sword on the tiger's stomach, turning it into cold water.

Laughter was heard after he slew the ice tiger. The now awake man shifted his gaze to the laughing lad, with his face scowling.

"Lyon you bastard, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" The raven-haired man shouted, pointing his sword to the giggling mad man.

The man gathered his breath and spoke "Ma, asked me to wake you up. Or you'll be late for class".

Gray Fullbuster felt his head start to heat, pissed for waking up in that manner.

"There are many ways to wake me up."

"Yes, I agree, and that one is one of the many ways that I have known" a giggle was left from his throat "MA, GRAY WET HIS BED" he teased, running outside his brother's room, laughing.

"That's because you used your magic on me" Gray released a heavy sigh from his mouth, he looked at his bed and walked towards it. The lad placed his hand on his bed, turning the water in ice. Slowly the ice started to break, sparkling into thin air.

After he was done changing his clothes, he went downstairs for breakfast. Cheers of morning greeting were words that he heard when he entered the dining room. He sat in one of the vacant seats and started filling his stomach with food. His plate of food was already gone, as he made his way outside the house.

"Gray, you'll be late, if you won't hurry" His older sister warned.

The man nodded his head in response, and he hurried his way to his school. Almost less than a minute and he will be at school, a blond-haired friend passed him by, turning and facing the raven-haired man.

"Gray, you're earlier than I thought you would be"

"Hey, Morning Lucy. I would be late if my idiot brother didn't use his magic on me"

The blond-haired female laughed from his reply, "That's good then, right?"

"Tsk, nothing good comes out from him"

As they were walking their way, talking about his crazy brother. Their chat was disrupted, when a loud voice came from behind them.

"WHOA, Isn't she pretty? Such a waste." a black haired girl blurted to her friend, staring at the picture on the phone.

"I agree, she looks so pretty. Yet, the owners always throw her away after a month" The brown-haired friend replied, catching the attention of their two school mates, walking in front of them. "I heard that she was given a nickname, you know"

"Really? What is it?"

"Bloody Princess"

"hmm, Princess? But why Bloody?"

"It was said that, if you harm the doll, the same thing will happen to you but worst."

"Scary" The black-haired girl observed the picture, and something had caught her eyes.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"On the right side of her neck, is that a scar?"

"Oh, that. Although her skin was hard rock, somehow, she has a scar on her neck. The owner said that she already had that scar when they had her, it was like the maker made it that way." Her friend replied.

"Hmm. Where is the doll now?"

"Up for adoption, the owner wanted to get rid of it. Actually, she was planning to destroy it, but she was afraid that a curse might be placed on her, and now she is looking for someone willing to take it."

"Eh? Was it really that scary?"

"Hmm, I don't know. But that's what they said. But if you were to ask me to keep it. I will definitely say no." The black-haired lady laughed and agreed with her friend, walking ahead from the raven-haired and blond-haired.

"Hey, Lucy. Do you know what they are talking about?" Gray asked his friend, his eyes still gazing at the chatting students.

"About the Bloody Princess?" she confirmed, earning a nod from the man.

"I read about her in a blog, and that doll was sure pretty"

"Blog? Can you show it to me?"

"Sure, wait a minute" Lucy smiled, fondling her hands on her phone. After she was done, she faced the screen to her friend, showing him a picture of a toddler life-sized doll with short pink hair and glass-like black eyes. The doll was sitting on a chair designed for dolls, wearing an old fashion princess dress. Her hands settled on the armrest, and her eyes staring at the screen.

"Isn't she pretty?" earning a nod from her friend, Gray was staring intently at the screen. That a coming wall was ignored by him, ending with him crouching on the ground, his hands on his forehead, trying to ease the pain.

The bell started to sing, and they started running to their classrooms. Gray sat on his chair and started to recall the doll's beauty on his mind.

"Bloody Princess," he thought to himself, staring outside the window to find a lass standing behind a tree. Gray blinked his eyes but found that the image was already gone. Later, the teacher came, and so the class had begun.

Hours passed, and it was already time for lunch. Gray and Lucy were waiting for their other friends to arrive.

"Gray, Lucy, let's go" A red-haired female called out.

"Erza, where's Juvia?" Lucy asked, looking for the blue-haired lass.

"She was asked by the teacher to help at the library. So She will be eating later. She said"

The three students went and started eating their lunch, minutes passed, and their stomachs' are full of eating too much.

"Hey, Lucy, have you read about the Bloody Princess?" the red-haired beauty asked, earning a nod from the blond.

"Yeah, it seems the owner is now looking for someone to take it"

"Hmpf, Those guys have no guts." The red lass boasted.

"Why don't you take it then"

"I would be happy to oblige. But my room is already full of stuffed toys and my armor. How about you Lucy?"

"Sorry, but no. I am not good at stuff like those. I might not be able to sleep for days if it is in my room."

"Hey, Lucy" Their male friend started, gaining the girls' attention "Can you show me that blog again?" He asked.

The two girls stared at each other, wondering why.

"Sure, Why?"

"Just need to check something on that doll"

"Okay"

Gray took Lucy's phone from her hands, he pressed with the keypads, reading all the contents of the blog. He scanned through the pictures of the blogger and his eyes caught the address. He copied it on his phone and gave it back to her. "Thanks" was all that left his mouth.

Before the bell rang, Gray, Lucy, and Erza made their way to their classrooms. Seconds later, the bell had rung, alarming students that classes will begin shortly.

After classes had ended for the day, Gray went ahead of the group. Making a stop first at his house, to change his clothing. Wearing his usual casual clothes, he made his way out of his house, bidding farewell to his mother. He picked up his phone from his pocket and checked the contents.

"So, I'll just head straight and ride a bus then." he thought to himself.

Gray made his way to a bus stop and sat down, waiting for the busy bus to arrive. Minutes of waiting, the bus came. People standing, sitting, and chatting with their friends. Gray made his way to a vacant corner and sat down. He fondled with his phone and bit, starting to read the address of the doll's owner. The bus started, dropping and picking up passengers on the way.

After an hour from the bus ride, Gray finally arrived at his destination. He took out his phone again and read, "Ahmi's Cafe and then to the right side of the cafe" He read on his mind. He turned his head from left to right but found nothing. He asked one of the passersby and was shown the way. Gray followed the passerby's instructions, and here it was the cafe he was looking for.

The raven-haired man started heading his way to the right side of the cafe. He continued walking until he was halted by a girl throwing trash with a doll on its hand. Gray's eyes widened and made haste towards the girl. Upon observing the girl, she looks dreadful and tired. Her eyes looked pitiful and about to cry, her skin was pale as snow, shivering even holding the rumored 'Bloody Princess' on her hands.

"Hey" He called out, earning the lass' attention. The girl turned her head and found the man heading her way.

"That doll." Before he can finish what he was about to say. The lass immediately thrust the doll on his hands. "You can have it if you want" she talked in a hurry. After the doll was already gone from her hands, she moved her foot to run faster as they could, leaving the raven-haired man with the infamous 'Bloody Princess'.

Gray was left dumbfounded, with his eyes wide. A heavy sigh was released from his mouth, as he scratched his head with his free hand. Looking at the doll, he holds it with his hands. He put it on his eye level and inspected the doll.

"Such a Beautiful doll for a Bloody Princess." he thought, staring at its eyes. "Hmm, they said that once you look at the eyes of the doll, your soul will be suck." But he felt nothing of it and shrugged. Thus the raven-haired man had decided to bring the doll home with him.

Upon arriving home, his family was surprised, finding him home with a pretty doll on his hand. The teasing brother of his never failed in making fun of him on his way to his room.

Gray sat in his chair and placed the doll on top of the table. He placed his hand on his cheek, staring intently on the doll's eyes. "Are you really that bad?" he asked the doll as if waiting for an answer. "Tsk, who am I talking to, it's not like you can talk" he blurted on his own. He stood up, but his eyes never left the doll. Gray halted his step and went back to sit down.

"A Little inspection won't hurt, right?" he asked, looking curiously at the boyish dressed doll. He remembered that the doll was a lass, but no matter how he gazes on it, all he sees is a boy. He placed his hand on the doll and started talking its clothes off. "Somehow, I feel like I am taking off girls' clothes" he murmured, his face started to heat. After taking off the doll's clothes, he started inspecting her body, turning and raising its arms and legs. "I guess you really are a girl," he spoke. He was about to dress it up again but a shout of his name halted his mission.

"I guess, I'll change you later. My stomach is hungry after the long ride," he commented on his own, making his way out of his room. Leaving the doll, naked in his empty dark room.

Gray arrived at the dining room, and found his sister on the sofa, gathering her projects. His mother plated the dish, and his brother walked beside him towards his seat. Gray sat down and started digging in. They started a soft conversation, and then was teased again by his brother.

"Hey, Gray, I didn't know you liked dolls. You should have told me. Big brother can buy you lots" Lyon smirked, making fun with his dear little brother.

"Doll?" his sister, Ultear asked.

"Yup, when I got home. Gray was holding this toddler life-sized doll and a pretty one at that, with the short pink hair and black shimmering eyes. I bet he can't find a human girl and settled down with a manikin girl instead." he continued, earning a glare from his brother and stomp on the feet by his mother.

"OUCH, that hurts"

"You deserved it," the mother said.

"But, ignoring that aside. Gray where did you buy that doll?" his curious sister asked.

"Well, a girl suddenly gave it to me and run away"

"This Doll-" Ultear continued, but halted, not knowing what to say "Never mind" she ended as she continued eating her dinner. Leaving the youngest to raise his eyebrow.

Dinner was finished and Gray decided to help with the dishes, while his brother was washing them, giving their mother to rest after a day from work. When gray was done, he continued to the restroom to brush his teeth. His mind started to wander on what his sister was about to speak. He gurgled the water in his mouth and released it out. He placed his toothbrush back to where it was placed, and he went straight back to his room.

Nearing his room, a cry was heard inside, curios. He placed his ear on the door, listening to the cries inside.

"How dare he" The raven-haired man heard.

"That man will take responsibility" a woman cried inside his room, curious and shocked to know that a thief had gone inside his room. He opened it with a swing and was surprised to find nothing. His clothes were organized, and nothing seems to be broken. He walked his way to his table, and found the doll, crouching down with its clothes.

Gray widened his eyes when he remembered leaving the doll on top of its clothes and not under it. He places his hand on the clothes, and a shout is left when it suddenly moves, facing him with rage in her eyes.

"HOW DARE YOU" the doll shouted, covering her naked body with her clothes. Hearing the sudden shout made Gray fall on his butt, he remained silent and stilled with his eyes wide towards the furious doll.


	3. Episode 2

"YOU BASTARD, TAKE RESPONSIBILITY" the mad doll shouted in a rage "KEEP YOUR EYES TO YOURSELF! PERVERT!"

She shouted, throwing small fires to the shocked man. "Why are you shocked? Am I a ghost? STOP STARING?!" she exclaimed, gathering her clothes around her body.

"Y-You can talk?" Gray pointed his index finger to her "You can m-mo-move?"

The pink-haired doll furrowed her brows "No no, that notebook is the one talking and moving" placing her hands on her hips.

Gray tried to compose himself and stood up from where he fell. "Wait, let's try to take this as slowly as possible." He offered, gaining silence between them "You. Are a doll, right?" he asked.

"I am, but I used to be a human" the tiny Lass informed, clutching the clothes around her chest.

"Used to be human, that means. You are the same as us?"

"Well duh. Obviously. But a witch gave me a curse, I tried to undo it with my powers but all I have is Fire" she commented, lighting her hands with her power. "Since I was a human before, although that was before I turned into a Doll. I can burn you to crisp if you dare to defy me again. From now on, you have to take responsibility, in short. You will be my lover, whether I like it or not."

"NO WAY" the raven-haired man replied. "and what do you mean, whether you like it or not, you're not giving me a choice, aren't you?"

The pink-haired doll's eyes started to gather tears, not listening to his words, she crouched down again with her clothes around her. The doll opened its mouth "ARRGGGHHH, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I FELT THAT I HAVE BEEN RAPED." enraged, the doll stood up, lighting her hands with fire, charging her wrapped naked body to the human boy.

"You'll pay for this" she shouted, burning his hair with her fire. Gray started using his ice on her, frizzing her hands so as to keep her from turning him into a bald man. But failed, as it started to punch his face, biting his checks and kicking his neck.

The raven-haired man started to get pissed, he tried to calm down as much as possible but failed as the doll started to get annoying as she could. "FINE, FINE. I'll be your damn lover" Gray shouted, hoping to earn her attention.

The doll halted her actions and stood up away from the pissed man. "You should have said that from the start" making the man even more pissed.

"Be happy, because you get to have a pretty lady as your lover"

"Lady, my ass" earning him a glare from the doll.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel. Pleased to meet you, and you are."

The raven-haired man raised his eyebrows, did not think that the doll would have a name on its own.

"What? You think I am a doll, that I do not own a name. I do have a name because I was a human before"

"Well I guess" Gray commented "The name's Gray, Gray Fullbuster "

"I see, Gray. From now on. You are my lover and you are not allowed to cheat on me if you do. I'll hunt you and her down." she warned.

A pause was between then before the doll spoke "But seriously, how could you take off a young maiden's clothes and check her body out. You even opened-" her words halted, when she had realized what she was talking about. Without warning, she breathed a fire towards the man's face.

"What do you think you are doing?" trying to dye out the fire from his hair. "Are you trying to make me go bald?"

"You deserve it." She commented, crouching down, cheeks flushed red. "How dare you look between a maiden's legs" she whispered, earning a flushing raven-haired man. Gray placed his hands behind his hair and started to laugh weirdly. Natsu started to cry from being sexually abused, making the man sweat a lot.

Gray immediately bowed down in front of the doll, asking for forgiveness. The doll sniffled her tears and nodded her head. "I'll forgive you since you will be taking responsibility"

"Gray, I want to wear my clothes, turn around and don't you dare peek"

"Yes ma'am"

After Natsu was done changing her clothes, she turned around facing the man's back. "I'm done"

Gray turned and found the doll fully clothed. Natsu walked her way at the end of the table and jumped down. Surprised, Gray was about to catch her. But instead, she placed her foot on his hand and jumped her way to his bed.

"Hmm, you really love me a lot, don't you" the doll muttered, earning a shot from the raven-haired man.

"and where the hell did you get that idea, Flame Brain"

"What Ice Idiot, you want to fight?" Thus their fight started again.

After their crazy fight ended, Gray and Natsu lay down on the bed, trying to catch some air. The two gazed at each other's eyes and started to laugh.

"It seems that you are not a bad guy, Gray. You're much different from the others who kept me."

"Why? Do they treat you differently?"

Natsu nodded her head in response and spoke "Truthfully when a human starts to shower me with love. It can help me move around. But once they see me move, they start throwing painful words and things at me. Fortunately, my body is made of ceramic. So I gained no wounds." she laughed cheerfully.

"But what's that scar on your neck?"

"This, I earned it when I was about to be kidnapped when I was a child."

"Kidnapped?!"

"Although, that man's plan failed. I only hurt myself with my hands in the process, when I tried to run away from him " she explained like her scar was something to be proud of.

"Hurt yourself?"

"Anyway, let's put that aside. As I had said, I can move when the people who kept me shower me with love. But usually, it takes a month or two, before that happens. But towards you, After hours passed, I was able to move right away, only to find myself in this state."

"Me? Love? To you? When?" the man asked, not believing her words.

"Don't ask me, ask yourself." She ended "Well, with that said. I am going to sleep. Tired from talking a lot" She blurted lying on the bed

"Hey, where do you think you are sleeping? That's my bed" But his words had gone unheard, as she had already fallen asleep.

The raven-haired man released a sigh, moving the sleeping doll to the corner of his bed near the wall. He placed some barrage between them, so as not to squish her when he sleeps.

Gray stood up from his bed and turned his light off, he lay down beside her and started dozing off.

Morning came, and the sun was already up. Waking the sleepy heads, with the flashing light that passed by their windows. Gray was sound asleep when a stomp on his face woke him up. There he found the source, Lyon, wearing a smirk with one of his eyebrows raised, with his mother and sister, staring towards him.

Gray immediately stood up, shouting towards his family. Lyon started to laugh pointing his finger to the young Fullbuster.

"Seriously Gray, I can't believe you would sleep holding a doll in your hands" his sister commented, making the older son laugh hard.

"He was even hugging the doll" Lyon commented, showing him a picture of his brother sleeping with a doll on his arms.

"Oh my, Gray. I was not aware you like playing with dolls that much. This is my fault." his mother sighed.

"It's not your fault Mother, it's just Gray being Gray" Lyon commented.

The Flushing gray stood up from his bed, hand in front of him, pushing his family out of his room. In success, he closed his door and turned.

"Good Morning Gray" the sleepy doll greeted from the bed.

"Yeah, Good Morning" he replied, sweating.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be going to school soon. So you'll be left alone here. I warn you, do not go out of this room. Got it?"

Natsu raised her eyebrows and waved her hand "Yeah, yeah. Whatever Ice Princess. Go, get me some food."

The man felt pissed from being ordered around, but bared with it, so as to avoid problems. Gray went outside of his room, and straight to the kitchen. Taking some food from the plate, and made his way to his room, leaving his family confused.

"Here you go" he placed the plated food on top of the table. Natsu, the hungry lass, stood up from the bed and made her way to the table, jumping from the ground to the chair, reaching the table.

Gray took off his clothes unconsciously, eating bread from his mouth. The busy doll, filling her stomach with food, noticed the naked appearance of the said man.

"You, why are you taking off your clothes while eating breakfast?"

"Huh?! Am not" the man replied, checking his body for confirmation. "Why am I naked?"

"Are you an Idiot?" she asked or more like commented to her forced-lover.

"Well, anyway. I need to get change for class" he ended, finishing his bread, standing up from his chair, making his way to his clothes to wear his uniform. After he was done, he took the plate with him and bid farewell to the lass, warning her to never get out of the room.

Gray bid his farewell to his Mother, closing the door behind him. He made his way to school, and then was greeted by murmurs and whispers on his way. Curious, he averted his eyes to one of the students staring at him. Instantly, they avoided his gaze, pretending they didn't meet his eyes.

Making his way to his classroom was the same for the young Fullbuster. People avoid his path and his eyes, like a lion on the loose. He tried calling attention to one of the students but was ignored, afraid to catch the rumored curse.

Gray arrived at his room and a blond-haired lass came to his view. He made his way to her and greeted her. The lad was about to ask her about the student's unusual stares and murmurs from his back. But before opening his mouth, the teacher came and class started.

During class was even worse for the raven-haired male. Just passing paper or helping one of his classmates pick up something that fell from the ground, he was still given a blind eye. Physical activities were far worse for him, the activity was for them to work on a partner. No one came to talk to him at all. Until a black-haired man came to his view.

"Let's pair up Gray" he offered, wearing his smile, making the other gasp in surprise.

"Sure" the raven-haired replied, smiling back "Thanks Alzack, I thought I will be pairing with that nosy teacher again" he sighed in relief. Happy to have a childhood friend willing to help.

"They are just not Manly enough," the man blurted.

"You sound like Elfman"

Their activity continued and soon the bell rang for the end of class. Gray went and changed his clothes, he went back to his classroom and waited for his friends to eat. Soon Erza came with Juvia on her side, seconds passed and Lucy came with her lunch box on her hand. They made their way to the cafeteria to fill their tummy when constant stares and whispers made the raven-haired bothered.

Once they sat down to an empty table, they started to dig on their food. Gray felt his sweats drop from his head, starting to eat, trying his best to ignore the stares. The group enjoyed their time when a short silver-haired lass sat with them.

"Why is it that you already started eating without me?" Lisanna Strauss asked, sulking from her chair.

"We thought you will be having lunch with your sister, is what Juvia told us" Erza informed. Juvia nodded her head, agreeing that their silver-haired friend told her that.

"Eh? When?"

"When I went to your classroom to ask you." The blue-haired lass responded.

"I don't remember"

They continued on their chat leaving the black-haired lad restless from the constant stares and chat from his back. He nudged his shoulder to Lucy, asking her why.

"Rumors started that you have the Bloody Princess on your house" she replied

"Huh?! How did that come out?"

"Apparently, one of the students from this school, saw you walking with the Bloody Princess on your hand, carrying the doll with care," Erza added.

"No way"

"So it's just a rumor?" Lucy asked curiously, hoping it was just a lie.

"What doll?" The other two girls curiously asked their friend.

"Didn't you hear about it? About the Bloody Princess who has short pink hair that brings misfortunes to the owner and around the owner" Erza replied to their question.

"Oh, I heard about that from my Sister. But I thought it was just a rumor"

"Me too, I thought it didn't exist," Juvia added.

"Well, it seems that it does and Gray has it in his room." the red-haired woman said.

"No, well, it is true. The doll is at my house" he replied.

Lucy started to cry and spoke "I am never going inside your house again"

"So, how was the doll?" the mature lady asked.

"Well, it was not really that scary. She acts and looks like a boy"

"Hmm, wait. Act? So it moves?" Erza confirmed

"Um- I'm not actually sure" the man stuttered. "maybe?"

Lucy had shivered on her seat, at the possibility of the doll moving on its own. While the red haired woman stared suspiciously at their friend.

Their meal was already done, when the bell suddenly rang, making the students hurry their way to their respective classrooms. The lesson soon started and the teachers started to discuss. The next subject for Gray and Lucy was science, they took their notes from their notebook and headed their way to the science lab, as they were informed classes will be held there for experiments.

Everything was very difficult, just talking or facing one of his classmates. He was immediately being given the cold-shoulder, pissed, he decided to do what they do.

Classes had already ended and it was time for them to go home when Erza had asked Gray to let her see the Bloody Princess. Gray nodded his head in agreement, making the blond woman shivered from the thought of seeing the scary doll.

"I don't wanna go," Lucy said in fear.

"What are you scared about, it's just a doll" her scarlet haired friend commented.

"Lucy, if you won't face your fears. You will be a scaredy-cat for the rest of your life"

"Being a Scaredy cat is fine with me, it's fine with me," she repeated. A blue-haired lass came to their view, retrieving her shoe from the shoe locker.

"What are you talking about, Gray?" she flirted, giving glares to her blonde friend.

"Good timing Juvia. We were planning on going to Gray's house, wanna come?" the red-haired woman offered.

Juvia, felt her check warm, daydreaming about her beloved Gray alone in his room with her on his bed. She gave out a big nod "I WILL DEFINITELY GO" she shouted. She started to steam with a fire of excitement when the realization hit her. "But why are you guys going to his house? Don't tell you are planning something, Huh!? I won't allow two girls inside my Gray's house." she accused.

"Stop your accuses Juvia, you are the only one here thinking about that" The blond lass

They continued to start a small quarrel one-sided by the blue lass, making the blond hair to bare with her jealous friend accuses. They halted their activity when gray spoke to them.

"But today's not good"

"Why?"

"Well, something came up. So can we just do it next time?" he asked in a hurry, not waiting for their response, he went and started to go "Then See you later" he bid, hurrying his way to his home.

Upon arriving, he found his room in a mess. Clothes were thrown everywhere, his books and porn mags out on the open, trash being thrown around. He looked for the source of this mess, to find the doll curling inside his blanket, giggling like a child.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked in an angry tone. The pink-haired doll stood up from where she lied down and tackled the angry man.

"Welcome back Gray" the doll greeted, giving him tiny kisses on his cheeks, making him fall on the ground.

Gray stood up from his fall and held the doll in her clothes. "I'm back and what the hell is this mess?" letting her face the messy room.

"Hey Gray, your room is messy. What do you think you are doing here?" she asked as if she was shocked by the mess.

"It's you who caused it" placing the hanging doll on the ground.

"I did?"

"You did"

"Oh! I DID" the doll cheered like a drunk man, running around making it even messier.

"What are you, drunk? And stop messing around!"

"NOPEY" she slurred, curling a white hand towel from the ground to her neck like a scarf. The man sighed and gave up, thinking it's no use to fight. He started picking up his clothes and throwing the trash to the trash box, tidying his bed and books, when an empty box caught his attention. The lad picked up the box and read the letter at the top.

"Brandy Chocolates" he read in his mind. Realization spanks him, and he averted his gaze to the drunk doll.

"Natsu, You went downstairs?"

He received a loud laugh and a slurry moan.


	4. Episode 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title is a bit confusing. Sorry.

I did warn you not to go downstairs, right?" he scolded the doll that was having a heavy pain on her head.

"Shut up Gray, my head hurts"

"You deserved it"

"WHAT? OOOUUCCHH" the doll screamed in pain, holding her head as if it was heavy.

The man let out a sigh and stood up "Wait here, I'll go get you some medicine" he told the doll and went out of his room. Minutes passed and Gray came back with a glass of water and the medicine on his hand.

"You're late"

"Shut up and drink the medicine, slanted eyes"

"HUH?! What was that you droopy-eyed, do you want a fig-" before she could finish her sentence, her head started to ring. "Give me that. Hurry!" she ordered. Natsu took the water and gulped the medicine on her mouth, drinking a mouth full of water. After she was done, she handed the empty glass to the lad.

"Why don't you sleep for a while? I'll wake you up when breakfast is ready" The raven-haired man advised.

"Okay, I'll do that," she slurred lying down on the bed.

Gray gave out a sigh and sat down in his chair, working on his assignments. Today was a day off from school, giving him time to ask more about the 'Bloody Princess'. As far as he is concerned, the doll's more like a nosy and annoying doll than from the rumors that he had heard.

His laptop was left open, searching about the 'Bloody Princess'. Images about the Princess pop up on his screen, horrid looking and calm looking pictures of her, wearing dresses and some made her wear men's clothes. He tried to look for more about her, but all he had read are words of how terrifying she can get and the way she will scare her owners, though he started to believe all of it was just a lie.

The raven-haired male averted his eyes to the sleeping doll, snoring softly on his bed. Words of 'Igneel' and 'Dragon' always left her mouth, with tears falling from her eyes.

> _A small child was running her way, catching up to the man in front of her. Her hands were placed forward, palms wide open and her tears falling. The cloak of the man's coat almost reached her fingertips, as she was about to clasp it with her hands. The man vanished, leaving her crying on the ground._
> 
> _The small lass stared at nothing. Thinking about the man that had left her, clutching the last gift that was given to her. A cat came and purred to her legs, putting its paws on her toes. The pink-haired lass crouch down and pat the cat's head._
> 
> _"Hey Happy, do you know where Igneel is?" she asked, waiting for an answer, but nothing came. "I guess you can't speak, can't you?" she cried, placing her arms around the cat, trying to hold her tears._
> 
> _The girl heard the news about a red-haired man near the orphan house, immediately she went and started looking for him. But suddenly, she found herself facing a black-haired lady wearing a black uniform holding her forehead, whispering words that she does not understand._

Gray didn't notice the time, when his sister came to tell him about breakfast, only to find himself butt naked on his chair.

Ultear gave out a long sigh, "Why do I have a family of nudists?" she asked no one, after passing his silver-haired half-naked young brother. Gray immediately wore his clothes.

Sobs and cries were what he heard from the sleeping doll, curious, he made his way to her. Placing his hands on her head, moving the hair from her face to the back of her ears. The man noticed a tear and wiped it with his fingers, making the doll smile from the warm hands.

"Natsu, breakfast is ready, wait here. I'll bring you your food," he said to her, receiving no reply.

Making his way to the Kitchen to find his older brother naked watching television shows. He took out his phone and clicked a picture. A smirk was placed on his face, as he went and sat to the chair, waiting for the others to sit.

"Lyon, wear your clothes before sitting on the table" his Mother scolded, earning a shocked shout from the silver-haired. The man stood up and went to his room for clothes.

Ultear gave out another sigh and spoke, "and this is why. I can never have my friends come over"

Soon Lyon came, and they ate their fill of breakfast. Once Gray felt his stomach full, he stood up and took another clean plate. He filled it with food and brought it to his room. His mother called out to him by the stairs, telling him to keep his room clean and bring the dishes out. He shouted a 'Yes' in response.

Gray sat the food at the table and found the doll still sleeping, soon the doll stood up from the smell and jumped her way to the table and ate.

"This sure is delicious Gray" Natsu commented gobbling all the food in her mouth.

"Just be careful, you won't choke." he blurted, earning a nod from the pink-haired doll, "But, even though you are a doll. You still eat food?"

"Of course, I am still a human, you know"

"I guess. Oh, is your head alright now?"

"Yup, after hours of sleep, I'm revived as new"

"I see"

After Natsu finished her meal, Gray placed it on the side, for now, wanting to talk more about her. "Anyway Natsu, you told me you were a human before. But what caused you to turn into a doll?" he asked in wonder.

"Oh about my body? Well, I don't really remember. All I remembered was being cursed by a lady" she informed, making Gray stare at her.

"Hey, hey!"

"It can't be helped, you know. All I remember was being cursed by a girl, and then I suddenly felt sleepy and when I woke up I was already inside a house with another girl, screaming her lungs out at me"

"Huh?! That doesn't help at all"

"Hey, Gray. Could it be that you're planning to help me turn back into Human?"

"Why? You don't want to?" He wasn't really thinking about helping her, he was just curious about how she turned into a doll. But seeing her crying face when she fell asleep, made him want to help her return back on what she was.

Natsu, who didn't think that she could still go back to her human form, immediately sprang up to him. Hugging him with her small arms around his face, making her stomach land on his lips. "Thank you Gray" she smiled, not noticing the tears dripping from her eyes.

"Huh? Why am I crying?" she sobbed, "I thought I won't have tears anymore" she murmured to herself, "I don't really know, but I felt like crying" and thus the pink-haired doll wailed, leaving Gray troubled, thinking of ways on how to stop her from crying.

Gray came up with an idea, and he placed his hand under her armpits. He placed his left arm under her for the doll to sit and his right arm to her back, moving circular motions in a slow rhythm. Natsu felt that warmth from his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, crying loudly from his shoulders.

Minutes passed and her tears finally dried up. Natsu stopped her wailing and smiled towards the raven-haired man.

"Thank you, Gray, but I really don't know why I was crying. But anyways Thanks."

"Hmm. Then, if you remember something, tell me as soon as possible, agree?"

"Uhn"

Their days continued as it is, Gray working on his assignment, except for Natsu playing games with his phone. The toddler-sized doll was busy playing racing games on Gray's phone, when loud beeps buzzed out and her car crashed, ending the game with a loser on the screen.

The doll let out a loud yell, punching the screen of the phone. "Gray your phone caused me to lose my game" she accused, earning the raven-haired man's attention.

"What did it do?"

"A beep came out and surprised me, then it buzzed" she explained to him.

"Hmm, someone might have mailed me then," he said to her, standing up and taking his phone from her grasp. Gray slid the screen to open and found messages from his childhood friend.

"We are on our way to your house -Erza" he read.

"On their way to my house? Wait, what time was this sent?" he thought to himself, checking the mail and found that it was just sent now. Gray let out a sigh of relief and faced the pink-haired doll.

"Natsu, my friends are coming today" he reported to her.

"Why?" the doll asked innocently, tilting her head to her right.

"I want to know too, but I think they are coming to see you"

"Why?"

"Because you're the rumored doll that everyone has been talking about"

"Eh? I am Famous?" she asked, looking conceited.

"More like Infamous" the man sighed.

"What's that? Is that yummy?" picking her nose with her finger, making the raven-haired man pissed.

"Seriously, what are you a kid?"

"What was that? Ice Pops are you picking a fight?"

"It's not me picking a fight, it's you Flame brain"

The two were busy throwing names at each other when a loud bang was heard from the door.

"That's fast" The dark blue eye Lad commented. Instantly covering the doll's mouth from talking, whispering to her ears not to move. "Oh, Erza, you're here" he greeted.

"I mailed you right?"

The man let out a sheepish laugh and welcomed her to come in, and then she was followed by an orange-haired male and a blond-haired woman.

"Excuse us" they chanted, occupying his bed.

"Loke, Lucy. You're here too"

"Yeah, forced by Erza to come" his Blond friend sighed in defeat.

"So, that's the rumored Doll" The man wearing sunglasses pointed.

"Huh?" Gray placed his attention to the doll and released a small laugh "Oh, yeah. This is it"

"What's her name?" The red-haired asked.

"Natsu Dragneel"

"I see, Natsu. Hmm, she doesn't look scary at all, what do you think Lucy?" Erza asked her friend. Lucy nodded her head in agreement and made her way in front of the doll.

"I agree, but something seems kinda odd," she thought, telling her friends. A scream was left from her mouth when the doll gave her a wink from her eyes. "It-it-it wink at me"

The two other guests didn't seem to believe her. Thinking her mind was just playing with her. The raven-haired man went downstairs to get some refreshments, leaving the pink-haired doll and his guest in his room.

"But I really saw it wink" The blond lass insisted.

The orange-haired man made his way to the toddler-sized doll sitting on top of the desk, placing his hands under her chin "Hmm, but this doll looks pretty ordinary to me," he muttered.

"Show me the doll, Loke" The red-haired woman ordered. Loke handed her the doll, leaving Erza to inspect Natsu. The redhead woman opened her bag, taking out a black Gothic doll's clothes.

"Eh? You brought doll clothes?" Lucy told the busy red-haired, who was taking the doll's clothes off.

"Of course, after I heard that Gray has the doll. I've been looking forward to making her wear these clothes" zipping the Gothic dress, making the doll wear dresses. Erza pulled out small long boots that will fit the doll and placed her foot inside. The red-haired woman busied herself on making the doll's hair look neat and nicer.

Sooner Gray came to find the doll in a black Gothic dress with Erza taking pictures.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking pictures" the red-haired commented, posing the doll in a different position.

That was how they spent the rest of an hour, talking about the doll, and how he got it. Minutes passed and Erza felt like visiting the bathroom, Loke went out of the room asking for Lyon about the movie he wanted to borrow. Gray went back to the kitchen to refill the juice.

Busy reading fashion magazines, it was already too late for Lucy to realize that her friends have left her in the room alone with the doll. Her eyes went towards the doll, to see it unmoving. She was about to leave the room, when the doll suddenly stood up, scaring her body out of fear.

The pink-haired doll was bored and decided to play pranks on the Blond-haired girl who was sitting beside Gray when they had a chat, standing up from her chair, making her way to the end of the desk, eyes stilled to the young girl. A smirk was plastered on her face, as she jumped to the ground, pretending to fall on the floor. With a loud thud, Lucy gave out a screaming loud shout, afraid that the doll had fallen on its own.

Terrified, she ran out of the room, running her way to her brave friend.

Erza came out of the bathroom, to find her blonde friend, running her way towards her.

"What's wrong Lucy?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Th-Th-The DOLL FELL ON ITS OWN" Lucy shouted in fear, pointing towards Gray's room.

In a hurry, Erza made her way back inside the room to find the doll, sitting to where she had left it. "Hmm, Lucy, are you sure she fell?" she asked her terrified friend.

"Hmm? What are you guys doing?" The raven-haired brunette asked, curious to know why Lucy was on his door, looking scared. Lucy turned her head, finding his male friends looking at her curiously.

She opened her mouth and spoke, "The doll fell from the table on its own," she explained. Making Gray felt his head sweat.

Loke went inside the room and felt disappointed, "Lucy, you must be tired. I think we should go home now" Her Celestial spirit commented.

"But I really did see it," she insisted.

"That's weird, but when I came in. The doll was still sitting on the table." Erza opened up.

Shocked, Lucy made her way inside and indeed the doll was sitting on the table like she didn't move at all.

"But seriously Lucy, we have magic powers and such, we have a talking cat. But why are you afraid of a moving doll, if it does move?" her red-haired friend asked.

"That's because it's a doll and the doll shouldn't move."

"Are you sure about that? What about the doll your parents gave you, she was a doll right?" she asked, smirking.

"Michelle and she are different"

"Well if you say so"

"Come on Lucy, I think you have enough. Let's go" Loke offered, guiding his blond friend out of the room.

"Sorry Gray, but I think we should be going now. Lucy looks scarier than ever." His male best friend said to him, waving his hand to him.

"No worries, I already know that she is a scaredy-cat from the start."

"Then, I should be going too" Erza stood up from the chair and took her bag from the bed. "Gray, I'll give those clothes to her."

"Okay thanks, Goodbye" he bid, courting them out to his house.

After bidding farewell to his friends, he made haste to his room. Natsu was on Gray's bed, curling, laughing her head out, and giving rude comments about the terrified woman, making the man feel rage. Her laughter was halted when a punch came to her head. Shouting in pain, she rubbed her tiny hand to her head.

"What was that for? You Nudist"

"What do you think you are doing Natsu?"

"Hmpf, not my fault. That girl was scared. I only moved around" crossing her arms in front of her body, checks pouting.

"I warn you Natsu if you do that again. I'll throw you out" he threatened, making the doll flinch.

Natsu's tears started to gather on her eyes, she turned her head around him and shouted "THEN DO SO" she roared, making her way to his closet, hiding inside. Gray started to feel his anger roused up, but composed himself, not wanting to have a fight with a doll. He let out a sigh and walked towards the closet, halting in front.

"Get out of there Natsu, or you won't have Lunch" he warned but received no reply.

"Come out Natsu, I warn you" he continued, but still she didn't speak. Gray tried to talk to her, to make her get out of his closet. He tried to open but failed. Pissed, "FINE THEN, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT" he shouted back, making his way to his bed and lied down.

Lunch came and Gray went downstairs to eat after he was done. He went back, not bringing her share of food. He continued on his homework trying to ignore the sulking doll. Hours had passed and the doll didn't come out of his closet. Dinner was then ready to fill their stomachs, and still gray didn't bring her share, but only snacks and chips.

He placed the snacks on his table and opened it. Trying to make the crunching sound loud, so the doll can hear but failed. A loud grumble from the stomach came inside from the closet, Gray let out a smirk and spoke, "Get out from there Natsu, I know you're hungry"

A minute passed before he heard her reply "Not Hungry" she sulked on his clothes, grabbing a white scarf inside and placed it around her, hugging the scarf around her small body.

"Don't lie. I heard your tummy grumble"

"Did not, Ice bastard"

"What was that Flame ass, still want to fight?" The silence was the reply as he let out a sigh "Suit yourself" he ended, munching all the snacks. After he was done, he threw the wrapper on his trashcan and cleaned his table. He turned on his music from his phone and listened while working on his unfinished school works.

Gray was about to sleep when he decided to check on the doll. He placed his hand on the knob and opened. The doll was on top of his clothes, lying down, sleeping with tears evident from her eyes. The man let out a sigh and took the doll out from his closet. He carried her to his bed and placed her on the corner, covering her with the blanket.

The raven-haired man turned off his lights, lying beside the sleeping doll. Natsu turned and tossed from the bed, rolling her way to the sleeping man. Unconsciously placing her right arm and leg around his arm near to her.


	5. Episode 4

It was still dawn when the pink-haired doll woke up from her slumber, opening her eyes to find a raven-haired man beside her. She sat up from her bed and her tummy started to grumble.

"I'm hungry!" she thought to herself "Bastard Popsicle, didn't bring me food" she accused of slapping her tiny palm to his forehead. The doll gave out a long sigh and lied back down beside the sleeping man. "But why am I on the bed? I do remember falling asleep inside the closet" she questioned herself. Letting out a soft sigh, she closed her eyes and thought "Well, who cares."

Words from the man yesterday got recalled from her mind. _'I warn you Natsu if you do that again. I'll throw you out'._ Natsu felt guilty after playing tricks with the blond woman, but she swore she was not going to apologize to him. Natsu gave out a pout and sat up, biting on his cheeks for leaving her hungry. Satisfied, she lied down and went back to resume her slumber.

The sun was already up. When gray found some bite marks around his cheeks. He averted his gaze to the sleeping doll and already got a suspect of the crime. Lying on his bed was the pink-haired doll, the cause of the tiny bite marks on his checks. Sighing, he went to the bathroom planning to take some shower.

Natsu finally woke up for the second time of the day. Sitting up from the bed, and found Gray was not around. She jumped up from the bed and made her way to the table, jumping out to reach the top, sitting down at the corner, she placed her hands by the window.

The raven-haired man's words still lingered on her mind, repeating each word, 'I w _arn you Natsu if you do that again. I'll throw you out'._ Crossing her arms beside the window, she placed her head on it. "That dumb Ice princess". She spoke in a tiny whisper.

Later, Gray came back with only a white towel around his waist. He went towards his cabinet and wore his casual clothes, today is Sunday, and he still has the day on his own. He turned around, and found the doll, staring at him with her checks pouting and her brows furrowed.

"Natsu, Good Morning" he greeted, but no response was heard. "Are you still sulking?" but got ignored. "Well, not like I care" he ended, making his way to his bed, picking up his guitar on the process. The man was about to sit down when a book came flying to his back.

Gray screamed in pain and placed his hand at the back of his head, "What was that for Flame Brain?" he asked in anger, small tears gathering to his eyes from the pain. A huff was only what he heard her response. Pissed "I see, Ignore me then, I'll do just that.''

Breakfast was already ready, when Gray went downstairs to watch some television shows, his face engraved with a huge scowl.

"Gray, Juvia just gave us a call just now," his mother said to him.

"What does she want?" The raven-haired man asked, still pissed with his current quarrel with the pink-haired doll.

Her mother raised her left eyebrow from his behavior, "Hm? What happened? What got your panties in a knot?"

"Nothing...so what does she want?" The young man asked, wanting to change the topic.

"Well, She said that she will be coming here" the older woman teased her son, giving him the brows, smirking.

"Why?"

"Huh?! Aren't you two dating?"

Gray made a surprise sound and told his Mother that they were not. It was just her selfish dreams. Ur left out a sigh, "Well, if you say so. At least I won't have to worry about you making someone pregnant at such a young age."

Gray started to flush from his mother's words, "Don't worry, that will not happen in another hundred years", shaking his head from left to right.

"Huh?! You mean you won't give me grandchildren when you are old enough to live on your own?" his mother shouted, disagreeing with her son's ideas about his future. "You better tell me that you are only joking Gray, I do expect at least one grandchild from each of you" his Mother huffed, averting her gaze to her other children, who are nodding their heads.

Gray let out a sigh and spoke "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why are we even talking about Grandchildren? I am still a high school student"

"Seriously, those manners of yours are just like your dad. If only Mika and Silver were still alive" Ur sighed.

"Come on Mom, we agreed not to talk about Gray's Parents, right?" her daughter warned her.

"Oh no, Sorry Gray. I didn't mean to"

"It's fine," the young man answered, taking his empty plate from the table and placing it to the sink. The raven-haired man took another clean plate and filled it with food.

"Hmm, Gray you're still hungry?" Ultear asked her cousin, who she treated as her Brother.

"Not now, But I might get hungry, so I'll be taking these with me" he lied, making his way back to his room.

"Hmm, what's this Lyon, for once you didn't make fun of Gray" The young lad heard from the kitchen, as he went up the stairs.

Gray made it to his door and went inside, closing the wooden door from his back. He made his way to the table and placed it beside the doll, which was still ignoring him since last night.

"Eat it," he ordered the doll.

Natsu spared a glance at the man and on to the food. She averted her gaze back to the window, making the man even more pissed. But her attempt failed, when her tummy didn't agree with her. The man smirked from his bed and grabbed a magazine from his headboard. He pretended to flip through the pages, while his eyes were gazing at the doll.

Natsu felt her face warmed when her stomach grumbled. She took a peek at the food and started making her way to the plate. She moved her butt a bit then followed by her foot, the process continued as she was now facing her breakfast. Taking the spoon, scoping it with her breakfast, before putting her mouth to the spoon full of food. The small doll gazed at her eyes to the man with her brows furrowed, making sure that he was not looking.

Gray noticed her eyes, and instantly went back to his reading.

After the tiny lass was sure. She gobbled the food with delight, eating her fill with her breakfast. After she was done, she placed the spoon back to the plate and went back to her position before she ate.

The raven-haired man noticed that the plate was now empty. He stood up from his bed and took the plate from the table. Small thanks were heard when he went to place the dirty dish back to the kitchen, making him smirk in his success.

"That means she's not that angry anymore," he thought to himself, humming some tune.

Natsu made a peek towards the door after Gray had closed it, she heard the lad whistle that made her happy for no reason. 'Gray really is not a bad person', she thought to herself. 'I'll forgive him' she nodded to herself. The tiny lass averted her gaze back to the road and smiled happily, her angry feelings finally gone.

Opening her eyes back to the front gate in front of Gray's house, a mysterious woman rang the doorbell. She gazed at her eyes to the blue-haired woman and observed. Later, Gray came out and opened the gate. Her eyes started to widen, upon seeing the woman, giving a tight hug to him and trying to kiss him on his lips. Natsu felt her heart clutch, she placed her palm on top of her chest and her face started to scowl.

Minutes passed and the door opened, a blue-haired woman welcomed herself inside and sat on Gray's bed as if she owned it.

"Juvia, didn't I tell you to stay in the living room?" the man huffed, crossing his arms on his chest.

"It's fine, it's fine. I am your-" before she can finish her sentence, Gray placed his palm on his face, covering her mouth, so as for her not to continue her one-sided dreams. Gray peaked towards the doll's back and sighed, he stood up, only to find Juvia making weird faces.

"Oh my, Gray. You're so Daring" she blurted, her face flushed and her eyes twinkling. The raven-haired man sweat dropped from her words and sighed.

"Come on Juvia, let's go to the living room or I won't talk to you again," he warned, making her immediately stand up and made her way to the living room.

Gray closed the door and left the doll alone. Natsu stood up from where she sat and made her way to the door. Curious, she decided to eavesdrop, making her way to the last part of the stairs.

"Here," Gray said to the woman in front of him, handing her the ice tea that he made. Juvia accepted the drink and gave her thanks to the man.

"Anyway, Gray. I thought Erza, and Lucy would be here" she asked, smiling towards the lad.

"Huh?! They were here yesterday" he answered, sipping from his tea.

"Eh?! But I received a mail, telling me that they will be coming here today"

"Let me see"

Juvia took her phone out from her bag and searched from her mailbox. She gave her phone to the man for him to read.

"We will be going to Gray's house today with Lucy and Leo, want to come? -Erza. September 6, 2014" Gray read to himself, Gray let out a sigh and spoke, "This mail was from yesterday, Idiot" he pointed out to her.

"Eh? No way, but I received it today"

"Hmm, then I guess the problem is your phone"

"No way" she cried, but soon it dried as she realized something. "Well, it's fine. At least I get to have Gray all to me, without the love rival insight" she thought, smiling towards the man drinking from his glass.

Lucy, who was busy practicing in controlling her powers with one of her celestial friends, made a big sneeze.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Capricorn asked, handing her a tissue to wipe her nose.

"I'm fine, just felt some chills"

"Then we better go back inside and resume there instead." the goat advised.

"Eh? Where are you going to continue?"

"Of course" Capricorn smirked, guiding the lady back inside the house.

"Hey, Gray. Where is the doll that everyone was talking about?" The blue-haired lass inquired to the man, gaining his attention.

"Oh, the 'Bloody Princess'?"

"Yeah, I also came here to see her"

"Well, didn't you already see her?"

"When?"

"The doll, who was sitting beside the window"

"That doll? Hmm... But I only saw her back"

"Fine, I'll go and get her"

Upon hearing Gray's words, Natsu hurriedly made her way back to the stairs. But Gray had already found her when she stood up.

"Hi, Gray" she smiled, trying to make her way out.

Gray raised one of his brows and picked her up by her clothes, he went back to his room and put her on his eye level, "What do you think you are doing, Natsu?" he asked the doll, his face grimaced.

"I am sorry" she apologized to him, clasping her hands together. The raven-haired man let out a sigh and put her near his chest, letting her sit on his arm.

"I tell you this, Juvia wants to see you. So you better not do anything, and stay and try to act like a doll would. Got it?"

Natsu nodded her head in response and smiled.

Gray went back towards the living room, with Natsu in his arms. Juvia stood up from where she sat and took the doll from him.

"Pretty" she commented, smiling and patting the doll's head. She averted her gaze back to him and asked for her name.

"Natsu" he replied, taking their glass, refilling it with iced tea.

"Summer? Cherry would be much better" she advised. Gray sat the glasses back to the table and sat, "Why?" he asked.

"Well, look, she has pink hair and pink always reminded me of Cherry Petals, what do you think?"

Gray averted his eyes back to the doll and found it scowling, not liking the name she was given. Gray let out a chuckle and smiled.

"Sorry, but Natsu is fine and it sounds much better than Cherry" he commented, waving his hands to her. Natsu crept a smile on her face, thanking Gray for not changing her name, unlike what the others did.

Juvia pouted from his answer and sat down beside him. "But I thought it is a much better name than a masculine sounding name"

"Hmm, not really. Some girls are named 'Natsu', you know" he said to her, moving a bit to his side, making space between them. Juvia made blowing faces as she tried scooting closer to her beloved, but the further she moved the further he scoots to his side.

"Hey Gray, I was wondering"

"What is it?"

"Can I have this doll?" she requested, hugging the toddler-sized doll to her chest.

"HUH?! Aren't you scared of the rumors?"

"Well, I am. But I won't become the woman fit to you if something like Bloody Princess will scare me"

Natsu, who was sitting on Juvia's lap, faced Gray with her eyes, hoping he would not agree. Gray went on to thinking and placed his hand under his chin.

"Hmm, I would be happy to do so." He said to her, making Juvia shout with joy and the doll shocked.

"So he really does hate me" The doll thought to herself sadly, feeling her tears gather on her eyes.

"BUT. I would rather not" he ended, taking the doll from his friend's hands, wiping the doll's tears.

"Eh? But why?"

"No reasons, anyway shouldn't you be going now?"

The blue-haired girl pouted from his rejection of her request, but soon it turned into a smirk, "Too bad, Gray, but I have all day to myself," she informed, smiling her way towards him.

"I see" He sighed in defeat. "Anyways, it's almost lunchtime, want to eat here? Although My mom and the others are not here. So I can only reheat the leftover foods inside the refrigerator".

"That's fine with me, or would you rather I cook?" she offered to the man.

"Nah, it will take time and I am hungry already. Maybe next time"

"Fine" she sighed.

Gray stood up from his seat and placed the doll on top of the table. He opened the white cool cabinet and took the leftover foods. Placing it inside a mini oven to reheat them warm. Soon the toaster beeped and the food was ready to eat.

"It's ready Juvia" he informed the blue-haired girl, reading magazines from the sofa.

Gray took out three plates and placed it on top of the table, filling the other one with food and bringing the doll with him to the room. Juvia asked if he was going to eat in his room, but before she could ask, he already made a waltz heading to the stairs and up to his room. Gray placed the doll on the table, placing the plate in front of her. He was about to go, when she made a jump, giving him a hug on his back.

Gray made a sudden yelp from the impact that he felt he was about to pull the source, but instead, she heard him saying her thanks. Gray let out a chuckle and smiled towards her. He placed her back on top of the table and patted her head. "Of course, I won't throw you out. I made a promise with you" he whispered towards her, making her flush red from his voice. Natsu nodded her head in response and started to eat her food.

The raven-haired man was about to open his door and was surprised to find his friend in front of him. Wondering why she was there, but nevertheless, he dragged her back to the living room to eat.

Lunch was already finished when Juvia talked to Gray about the doll again. She really wanted to have the doll but got rejected all the time. In defeat, she decided to give up and wait, since usually as what the rumors said, it will only take months after the owner will look for someone to keep her.

But the words that she said were heard by the pink-haired doll, who was sitting at the stairs, still curious about what they were going to talk about. When suddenly Juvia realized it was time for her to go, Natsu immediately hid from the opposite room.

Gray escorted her to the front door after the doll made sure she would not be seen, she peeked her head from the door. The blue-haired woman wore her shoes and stood up. She was about to go, when she placed her palms on his face, pushing her face closer to the raven-haired lad. Their nose had almost reached and the pink-haired doll widened her eyes, feeling rage within her.

The two couples in front of her were about to kiss when she threw herself towards the blue-haired woman with her face scowling and in rage.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO KISS GRAY YOU BLUE EGGPLANT" the doll shouted, standing on the woman who was now lying down.


	6. Episode 5

"Gray, what happened with Juvia yesterday?" Ur asked her son, who was sitting at the front door, putting on his shoe.

The raven-haired lad stood up and faced his mother, pretending he didn't know and made his way to his school. Before he left his room, he made sure to pile some snacks and food under his desk, while telling the doll that she can eat all the snacks. The thought about his mother who adopted him, finding out about the doll moving around, scared him. He doesn't really know how she will take it, but as much as possible he decided to avoid it.

Arriving at his school, he came across the water user with Lucy on her side. Gray called out to them, earning their attention.

"Sorry about yesterday Juvia," he told the blue-haired girl, who only nodded in response. After that incident, Natsu decided to charge her and throw flames to her hair, fortunately, she was able to stop it from spreading with the use of her water magic.

> Gray and Juvia had their eyes wide open, staring at the doll, standing on the blue-haired lass's stomach facing her with rage in her eyes. "HOW DARE YOU TRY TO KISS GRAY YOU BLUE EGGPLANT" the doll shouted, standing on the woman who was now lying down. "YOU BASTARD!" she shouted, she was about to throw her flames towards the blue-haired lass, but she was immediately halted by the raven-haired man.
> 
> "Natsu, what do you think you are doing?" Gray asked towards the doll, securing her on his chest to stop her from charging.
> 
> Juvia stood up from where she fell and dusted her skirt, she made a short step towards the doll giving a glance towards the doll. "She really does talk" she cheered smiling towards the two.
> 
> Natsu started to feel pissed, thinking that she was being laughed out. Jumping out from Gray's hand to his shoulder, pointing her index finger to the blue-haired lass. "I warn you, try to kiss Gray one more time and I'll kill you" she threatened. "Put this on your mind, GRAY IS MINE" she ended, trying to catch her breath with her face blushing red.

Juvia only smiled when Gray apologized on her stead. "I am fine, Gray. I had lots of fun yesterday anyway." the lass smiled. "and I got caught in something interesting."

"Sorry about that Juvia, I didn't think she will jump at you"

"No it's fine, but I am just wondering why she can talk"

"That? She told me she was a human before she got cursed by a witch a year ago"

"So that means it's just recent, wait. She's human?"

The man nodded his head with a sigh and scratched his head.

"To think that I have another rival in love" The water haired girl sighed. "But she's much cuter than this girl beside me"

"Huh?! What do you mean by that?" The blond-haired woman asked curiously.

"It's a secret"

It was already lunchtime when Juvia had asked Gray to enter his room, saying she wanted to talk more with the doll and help her with her curse. The raven-haired man gave it a thought and decided to agree. This way, he doesn't need to think alone on how to retrieve Natsu's original body. Minutes passed and the sound of the bell rang inside the campus, informing students that classes would begin shortly. Gray and the others went back to their respective classrooms, waiting for classes to end.

Gray placed his head on his palm and started to think about the dolls' words that left his mind. 'From now on you are my lover' he let out a sigh, 'so that flame brain was not joking' he thought to himself. He glanced outside the window and found the other students playing volleyball.

Blinking his eyes, an image caught his mind. There the black-clothed lady that he saw after he had Natu living with him, was standing behind the tree, where he last saw her. The raven-haired man stared at the lady he saw, a while later a wide grin was given to him by her. 'So you have her' he thought he heard her speak, in surprise he rattled up from his seat making the others look at him.

"Gray, What's wrong? Need the bathroom?" the older man who was standing in front asked curiously to the lad.

Gray shook his head in response and went back to his seat. He averted his eyes back to the trees and the girl was now nowhere in sight. He let out a sigh and remembered her words, 'So you have her'.

"What does she mean?" he murmured to himself.

Classes had already ended when Gray had waited for Juvia at the shoe locker. Picking up his shoe inside and making it fall down, putting on his outdoor shoe. Kneeling down, he picked up his white shoes and placed them inside his shoe locker.

"Gray, sorry for the wait" the blue-haired lady called to her friend.

"No, I just got here. You're just in time"

"Good then" the lady smiled and changed her shoe. Just then a blond-haired lady passed them by bidding them farewell.

"See you tomorrow Lucy" Juvia called out.

"See you guys tomorrow" Erza together with her blue-haired lover bid them.

"Sure, Bye Erza, Jellal are you two going out on a date?" Gray called out teasing the male who turned red.

"Then let's go Gray" Juvia called to her crush. Gray nodded his head and went out of the gate.

After minutes of walking, the two finally arrive at his house. They went inside, as Juvia took notice of the piercing glare from the window. Gray took off his shoe and wore his slipper, taking out another pair. He placed it in front of him. Noticing the girl was still outside, standing like a statue.

"What are you doing? Hurry and get in." the lad commanded.

Juvia nodded her head in response and went inside. The raven-haired lad informed the lass to go ahead of his room, but she refused, saying the talking doll will jump at her. Waiting for the male to finish preparing their drinks, when she noticed the lad was almost out of his clothes.

"Gray your clothes"

The lad looked at his body and gave a small shout. Turning around and went to pick up his clothes again to wear them.

"Sorry about that"

"It's fine, I got used to it" the lass smiled towards him. Taking the tray from the table, but was then taken from her by Gray.

"Let's go"

The lass nodded her head and followed the young man to his room. Holding the tray, on one hand, he opened the door with his empty hand. Only to be greeted by a doll standing in front of them with her hands on his hips.

"What are you doing here?" she called out to the blue-haired woman.

"Natsu is that how you greet visitors?"

The doll let out a pout and ignored his question, "I still have not forgotten what you did to Gray. Do that again and I'll kill you" she threatened the woman, who only smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Why are you laughing, you blue pig"

After hearing her insult that blue-haired woman started to feel pissed. "It is none of your business what we do together"

"What. I warn you, Gray is mine and he is my Lo-" before the doll can finish her words, Gray picked her up and placed his palm on her mouth.

"Sorry about that Juvia. This slanted eyed brat really does know how to pick a fight."

Juvia widened her eyes and calmed herself, "No, I should apologize too."

"Then sit at the bed for now. I'll have a chat with this doll here. Okay?"

The blue-haired lass nodded her head and went to sit on his bed, waiting for the two to come who went outside his room.

Gray went down the stairs and went straight to the bathroom, placing the doll on the lavatory. "Come on Natsu, I finally found someone who can help me with your case. So please try not to pick a fight with her okay?"

The pink-haired doll gave out a huff and shook her head to her right while placing her arms in front of her as if hugging her own body.

"No, I hate her"

"Why? Because she tried to kiss me?"

Natsu felt her cheeks heat and furrowed her brows, "That's right. It's because you always let your guard down, that crazy amazons gather around you." she breathed, facing the lad with rage.

Gray blinked his eyes and stared at the doll, one of his brows raised. "Amazons. Juvia might act like that. But she is dating my brother" he lied, so as to make the doll control her rage in seeing Juvia.

Natsu blinked her eyes, not believing what he had told her. "That's a lie, she tried to kiss you on your lips"

"and then? What do you want me to do, kick her out of the house when she is willing to help you remove your curse"

"You told her?"

"Of course I did, to explain why you can talk"

"But I still won't forgive her" she turned around and sat down to where she stood.

The raven-haired man ruffled his hair in irritation. "You want to go back to your original body right? So at least, do this for yourself" he called, hoping she would listen but she only spared a glance to him on her side.

"Fine," the young lad announced, grabbing the doll by her dress and putting her on his eye level. Placing his lips on her checks. "Now you got a kiss, so it's even" he blurted, putting the doll back to the lavatory.

Natsu felt her face heat and her heartbeat loud, placing her palm on her cheeks from where she was kissed, "But it was not on my lips" she murmured to herself that only she and he could hear.

"You're too young for a kiss on your lips"

"For your Information, I am turning seventeen soon. So that makes us the same age"

"Hmm, but you're still younger than me"

"What!" she furrowed her brows in irritation. The raven-haired lad faced her, moving his face closer to her. In a surprise, the doll showed a glint and grabbed his cheeks, pushing her tiny lips to his. "There, I got a kiss" she cheered dancing around.

"There you got a kiss on the lips, So are you okay with Juvia helping you now?"

Natsu nodded her head in response with her cheeks still red. She made the jump to his shoulders and they went back to his room.

"You really love me a lot, don't you?" she commented to him, making the lad sighed.

"It's the other way around, flame brain"

"What do you mean, you Ice butt"

"What, picking a fight after you kissed me, slanted eyes?"

"Correction, You kissed me, droopy eyes"

"Correction, you did"

"No, you did"

Their short quarrel was halted when the blue-haired lass opened the door. "What are you guys taking so long? I was about to go and look for you"

"Well, our small talk got longer than I thought. Anyways, this doll here is no longer gonna jump at you, right Natsu?"

The pink-haired doll nodded in response and flashed a smile to Juvia.

"What, Did something happen?"

"A secret" the doll slurred, jumping from Gray's shoulder to the ground.

Juvia followed the doll inside, Gray went inside his room and closed the door behind. He sat in his chair, leaving the blue-haired guest to sit on his bed and doll on top of his table.

"So how should we start?" the lass asked.

"Well, why don't we have this tiny devil here to speak," Gray advised.

"Sure, and don't call me tiny devil, Ice bastard"

"Whatever, just tell her what you told me"

Natsu huffed her checks and went on facing the blue-haired lady. Telling her what happened to her, "Well actually, I really don't know what happened, but suddenly I was turned into a doll by a witch and then I woke up at another house and they threw things at me. That has been done to me a lot of times by different persons until I woke up in Gray's room."

"Hmm, if possible we need more information" Juvia mumbled to herself, "Then do you know the witch who turned you into a doll?" Natsu went into thinking mode but shook her head in response. When a memory came to her mind.

"Oh yeah, I think I remembered having a dream"

"What is it?" the raven-haired man asked curiously towards her.

"In that dream, I was looking for my Uncle and then when I made a turn. Then suddenly, this black lady was standing in front of me. She was holding my forehead, and then she started mumbling. But I didn't hear what she said"

Juvia perked up from her words and asked if the doll had remembered the words, but all she said was 'No'. She let out a sigh, she took her laptop from her bag, "Hey, Natsu. What is your full name?"

"Hm, Natsu Dragneel," she said as the lady was typing her name on the screen. "What are you doing?" the curious doll asked, jumping her way to the lady in front.

"Searching if we can find leads."

Scrolling down the page to find nothing from the website, closing it down, and going to search for pictures.

"Black Lady" the only male in the room thought to himself when suddenly he remembered the lady he saw outside his classroom. His thought was disrupted when a shout came from his classmate, "Found it" she cheered. Clicking the picture with the doll's picture as a human. Gray stood up from his seat and stood closer to her.

"Weird" she blurted to herself.

"What is?"

"Under the picture, there is something written, but I can't read it."

"Let me" Gray offered, taking the laptop from her hands and to find a picture of his doll, standing beside a cat and words written under it. Natsu made a jump from the bed to the male's shoulder.

"Oh, that's me and Happy" she cheered. "I miss Happy, I wonder how he's doing."

"Then, can you read what's written under it?"

"let's see. Oh that's the date when we took that picture"

Gray felt his sweat drop and raised one of his eyebrows, "Which part?"

Natsu pointed her index finger to the screen and pointed on the date. "This one is 'October' and this one is 'four'" the doll blurted.

"How do you know?" Gray asked curiously.

"Because I am the one who wrote it when I was young," she said to him, flashing a smile.

"Too bad and I thought it might give us some leads" Juvia sighed to herself. The group fell into silence for a while until an idea came to the human girl. "Than Natsu since you were a human before. Do you still remember the place where you live before?"

Gray lifted up his brows and smiled, thinking it might help them. But his smile vanished after the doll spoke.

"Hmm, I kinda. But I kinda don't?"

"What kind of answer is that Flame Idiot"

"What Ice Princess, you want a fight?"

The two started their fight again, Grinding their heads together. Juvia let out a sigh and giggled from the view. "You two sure are close"

Natsu smirked from her words and flashed her a smile, "Of course, because Gray and I are Dating" she blurted innocently to the young woman who fell silent.

"NATSU" the lad shouted to the doll.

"Isn't it fine?"

"It's not"

"Why?"

"Because I said so"

Pissed the doll talked back "It's fine"

"No"

"Wait Gray, Natsu. You mean you two are Dating? Gray is dating a Doll?"

"Yes, he is. Dare to steal him and I'll kill you" Juvia let out a chuckle from her lips, handing her palm to her rival in love. "Even though you two are dating. I won't stop making him fall for me"

Natsu took her hand, "Fine then, That's what I wished for. But too bad for you. Gray is already head over heels in love at me"

Gray let out a sigh and made his way to the kitchen, refilling the empty pitcher. Before he can proceed, Juvia has already called out to him, telling him she will be meeting another friend soon.

"Sorry Gray, we'll just talk about this later. I am meeting up with Gajeel"

"Okay, take care then"

"Thanks and bye-bye. See you later Natsu" the blue-haired lass bid to the doll, waving her hands flashing her a smile. The doll showed her new friend her toothy grin and smiled. "See you later Juvia" she greeted waving her tiny hands.

Gray courted the girl towards his gate and closed it, making his way inside while closing the door. He turned and found the doll, giving him a wide smile.

"What's that smile for? Flame Brain. It's creepy"

"What was that Stripper"

"Am not"

"Really?"

Upon seeing his naked body, he went outside his house to pick up his discarded clothes by the gate.

"You really are an Idiot Gray" the doll commented laughing her lungs out. Words from the naked man halted her laughter, pissed she breathed a Fire to his face, who immediately turned it into Ice. "What do you think you are doing bur-." before he can finish, another set of flames came flying to his face. He froze it right away, and then he felt a tiny stomp on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Gray" the doll whispered to his ear, the doll made a jump and ran her way up to Gray's room with her cheeks flushing red after he gave a chaste kiss on his cheeks.


	7. Episode 6

"Hey hey, Gray are you excited about next week?" Lucy called out to her friend with excitement in her eyes.

"Why? what's going on next week?"

"We will be going on a Four days and Three nights field trip at Akane beach resort, together with all the second-year students" the blond-haired woman cheered. "Oh right, I need to buy swimsuits." she let out a giggle as she spoke.

"Better invite Juvia and Lisanna, Erza might want to come too".

The raven-haired man let out a sigh and went back to his table, leaving the happy lass looking over magazines that showed different types of swimsuits.

"That Lucy even brought a Magazine with her." he thought to himself, watching his friend being gathered around by the other girls.

The bell suddenly rang and his female classmates hurriedly went back to their seats. The blond-haired woman had then closed her magazine and placed it back inside her bag.

"Good Morning Everyone"

"Good Morning Sir Conbolt" the students greeted their stubble mustached teacher.

"Raise your hands to those who are absent" he called, taking his attendance book from the pile of books he brought.

"How can they raise their hands if they are not here?" One of the boys spit.

"Now now, put that aside"

"You're not even taking our attendance" another student countered.

The man ignored his students calling him names, he tapped his rolled notebook on his desk and spoke, "Silence" and so thus his students complied. "You already heard about the field trip next week, right?" he asked, earning a nod from them.

"and that is Canceled"

"WHHHAAATTT!"

"Yes, yes. That was a lie. So please pass this paper around and take one paper, have your parents sign it to confirm if they will allow you. As for the details..."

The crowd of students waited for his next words, waiting for the exact details of their trip. "Well, you'll know it when we get there. Then, I'll be going. See you Later"

"Wait, Teacher. Is that all? What about the Itinerary?" Lucy's words came ignored by the dark blue-haired teacher as he already went out of his classroom, skipping on his way to his office, leaving his students dumbfounded with his explanation. Minutes passed and their next teacher came to begin their lessons.

Only a minute left before lunchtime will start, staring at the clock in front. He started to remember Natsu's words last week. 'Black lady.' he thought. 'Could it be connected with the lady I saw this past few days?' he mumbled to himself while writing words on his notebook without him realizing it. A tap on his table cut off his thoughts, raising his head to find Lucy staring at him with one of her brows raised.

"What? The classes are already done?"

"Five minutes ago"

Gray stood up from his chair and took his lunch box from his bag. "Let's go"

Making their way to the canteen only to be greeted by the Strauss siblings together with Erza. "You guys are late"

"Sorry, Gray was gazing blankly on his desk"

Gray sat on an empty chair when he noticed someone missing, "Juvia's not here yet?"

"What's this? Have you already fallen in love with Juvia, Gray?" Lucy teased, followed by a smirking Lisanna.

"Of course not, just wondering"

"you don't have to lie"

"Whatever" was his response as he bit a piece from his food, ignoring the teasing blond in front of him.

Lucy halted her pester to the young man after Erza had called for her attention. "Anyway Lucy, I heard you will be going to Akane beach for your field trip. Are you going to buy some swimsuits?" Lucy nodded her head in response and the girl started to converse on where they will buy, leaving the two guys on their own.

Leo, Lucy's celestial spirit suddenly came out from his key and started talking to others about swimsuits and girls. Later, the blue-haired lass arrived, trying to catch her breath. It seems she was caught by her teacher using her phone during class and was then asked to transfer the books to the library as her punishment. The bell suddenly rang, telling students that the second half of the class will now start. Making their way back to their classroom with their stomach savoring the food that they just ate.

The afternoon class remained the same for the raven-haired man, except when he turned his head to find the lady in black standing in the middle of the field. He rubbed his eyes to find it gone again. Curious to know if some of his classmates saw her, he wrote a letter and passed it to the student on his front.

The reply came and all was written as they didn't see her.

Passing around papers and standing up to answer the teacher's question and then sitting back. He glanced his eyes to the front door on the side and saw the top of a head by the window door staring at him. Surprised, the lad shouted, earning his classmates' attention.

"Are you alright Gray?" the teacher asked, wondering for his reasons as to why he shouted.

The raven-haired man pointed his finger to the door and murmured, "Someone was there at the door," he said, gazing back to the door to find no one. Surprised that no one was there, Gray made his way to the door and opened it, to find the corridors empty and only their small head-principle passed him by.

The teacher came behind him to find the lad sweating. He let out a sigh and told him to rest at the clinic and so he complied.

Gray went to the clinic and informed the nurse that he was asked to rest. Lying down one of the vacant beds, and slowly he closed his eyes, 'What was that?' he thought to himself. His thoughts were disrupted when the door made a loud thud. Wondering if the nurse had left or someone came in, he peeked from his curtain to find the nurse, not insight. The man let out a sigh and went back to his lying position, he closed his eyes for a minute.

'So you have her' the lad heard from his ear, opening his eyes to find no one on his side. Confused and afraid, but he stayed on his bed as if nothing happened. Waiting for something to happen but soon the door opened and he made a jump from his bed.

The shocked nurse made a loud shout, surprised that the young man had suddenly made a jump.

"What are you doing Fullbuster?" The nurse scolded. The raven-haired man scratched his head and apologized to the nurse, he went back to his bed after he had asked the nurse a question.

"Hey Doctor, did someone come inside while you went out?"

"Hmm? No one came and I didn't go out of the room" the nurse replied, leaving the lad confused. The lad remained on his bed confused and perplexed, at the same time he felt his hair skin stood up having goosebumps on his arm.

The lad finally woke up after a blue-haired lad with a tattoo on his face woke him up. Gray stood up from his bed only to be greeted by Jellal and his red-haired lover.

"Gray, classes are already done. We are planning to buy swimsuits today and you will be coming with us" The red-haired woman ordered. "Hurry and stand up, Lucy already brought your bag with her and they are waiting outside"

"Sorry Gray, Erza seems to be excited about buying new swimsuits today" the blue-haired man apologized to his friend. Gray just nodded his head in response and wore his white shoes, he was about to go out, when Erza had given him a kick on his face.

"Wear your clothes before going out" the lass scolded, closing the door behind her.

Jellal went and helped the young man to stand, "Really sorry Gray".

"No, it's fine. I am still trying to control my nudity disease"

"I see, then please do your best at it" Jellal murmured to himself to avoid the raven-haired lad to hear his words.

"What is it? Jellal. Did you say something?" the raven-haired male asked, putting on his pants.

"Nothing"

The two males finally went outside the clinic after bidding farewell to the nurse who remained silent after his friends came inside.

They went outside the gate and straight to the shopping district. Passing by the other shops and entering the clothes shop. Gray let out a sigh, "Why do I even have to come" he murmured to his other male friend who was waiting outside the store.

"Don't say that Gray" Jellal exclaimed, "if you're not here, I'll be left on my own"

"I see, but we are not even in the same grade. Why do they even have to buy some swimsuits?"

"Well, Erza felt excited after hearing the second graders are going to the beach for their field trip and decided to buy one after she had invited Mira"

"I see"

Inside the store was a blond-haired woman, searching around for her perfect swimsuit. A silver-haired lass came to her view and showed her a pink two-piece bikini. "What do you think Lucy? I think this will suit you." Mirajane smiled at her friend. Lucy took the swimsuit and tried it in the dressing room.

"Hey hey, Mira. What do you think?" Her younger sister asked, wearing a pale purple two-piece bikini.

"It suits you Lisanna"

"Then, I'll buy this" the young silver-haired girl went back inside to take off the swimsuit she chose.

After Lisanna was done changing, the neighbor's dressing room opened its curtains. "How's this?" A red-haired girl flashed the golden two-piece bikini to her friends.

"Oh, That looks pretty Erza, I bet Jellal will like that"

Upon hearing her boyfriend's name from her friend, a tint flush painted her checks, in a soft whisper she decided to buy the item she wore.

"Mira, how about this, I bet this will look good on you" her younger sister showed her the one-piece bikini. The older Strauss took the swimsuit and wore it, to see it perfectly fit. After hearing from her little sister that she liked it, she decided to buy a swimsuit.

The occupied dressing room opened and Lucy came out wearing the swimsuit Mirajane showed her. Delighted with her choice and how it fits perfectly. Later the blue-haired came out wearing a blue two-piece bikini that has white dots as the design. The girls were delighted with their choice and decided to pay for the bikinis at the cashier counter.

The ladies were about to go, when Erza suddenly halted her steps, "Hey, what do you think we should buy a swimsuit for a doll too".

Juvia perked up from her words and agreed with Erza. Looking around for some doll clothes. Luckily, the store sells them inside.

The blue-haired lass took notice of a black one-piece bikini and showed it to her friends. The ladies agreed with her choice, but Erza showed them a two-piece red bikini, making the girls hard to choose. After almost an hour of debate, they decided to buy the red bikini instead.

They were finally out of the store to find the males nowhere in sight. Looking around and calling them from their phone, only to find the two young lads had occupied themselves inside a game center.

"What took you so long?"

Erza showed a smile to Gray and gave him a small paper bag that contained the mini swimsuit. "This is for Natsu and please send me pictures of her tonight after you put it on her." the lass commanded, earning a nod from the raven-haired man.

"Then, see you guys tomorrow" the other girls called out, bidding farewell to each other.

Gray had finally arrived at his house after two hours of waiting for the girls to choose their swimsuit. He went straight to his room, to be greeted by the doll, eating her fill with the snacks he left in his drawer.

"Natsu this is for you. Erza told me to give it to you and please wear it today" he sighed, lying to his bed after hours of walking.

The doll took the bag and opened it with excitement in her eyes. "Erza?"

"The red-haired girl who dressed you up in the dress she gave you"

"Oh Her? Lucky now I have another piece of clothing to wear" Natsu took the item inside and inspected it. "Gray, this is a bikini, right?" the doll blurted showing him the red bikini doll size in front of him. But the young man was gone to his own thoughts, still can't forget about what he experienced in the school's clinic.

"HEY GRAY!" A sudden shout from his ears halted his thoughts, he shook his head to his right and found the doll wearing a red Bikini in front of him.

"What the. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING FLAME BRAIN?"

"Duh, a bikini isn't it obvious. Anyway. Does it suit me? I like this color a lot" the doll giggled to herself, checking her body out from the mirror in front.

She faced the lad in front of her again and started making poses, "Do you like it? Tell her thanks for this gift"

A call from his door made Gray stand up from his bed, leaving Natsu puzzled. He went outside, making his way down the stairs, with his cheeks flushed red. 'My cheeks feel hot just seeing her in that outfit? Furthermore, she's a doll. Wait, she was a human before she turned into a doll' he mumbled to himself, sitting to one of the empty chairs.

"What's with him. I was just asking if he likes it" Natsu blew her cheeks and stared at her face in the mirror. "Well, I do look sexy in it" she smiled to her own, taking it off. Her stomach started to growl, signing that she was now hungry. Finding the young man's bag, he peeked from it and looked inside for food. Removing her body out from the blue bag, she pulled out a piece of paper. Her eyes started to widen after reading each word.

Dinner time was already done when Gray went back to his room. Entering his room to find the doll back to his original clothes, jumping towards him showing him the paper that she found. "Hey, Hey, Gray can I come?"

"Come, where?"

"At the beach, I want to wear my swimsuit"

"Sorry but it's a big No"

"Why, isn't it fine, you stingy"

"No it's not and here eat your dinner" The toddler-sized doll jumped her way to the table sitting in front and filling her stomach. "stingy" the doll pouted.

"Are you calling the guy who brought you food a stingy?"

"No, I am sorry Master droopy eyes bastard" the doll retorted, eating her fill with her food.

"What was that slanted eyes"

"Nothing"

Gray went back to his bed, reading some of his Manga while waiting for the doll to finish her meal. Seconds later the doll stood up and made her way to the man, "Please Gray, bring me with you. I'll do anything for you, Pretty please?"

The raven-haired lad raised one of his brows and smirked, "Anything?" he confirmed.

"ANYTHING" the pink-haired doll confirmed

"Fine then"

"Really, Hurray. Thanks, Gray"

"But first wear those bikinis again and strike some poses"

Natsu felt her cheeks heat from his words, "I know that you are a pervert. But I didn't think it would be like this"

"IDIOT! Erza asked me to make you wear those and take pictures of you wearing it to send it to her"

"Oh I see, wait a minute" The doll stood up and wore the bikini again, standing at the top of the table and waited for the man to take pictures. "Is this okay?" the doll asked, lying on her stomach with her two little feet raised and her head being placed on her palm.

Gray took her picture while trying to control the pressure from his nose. "That's enough, now go and wear proper clothes"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure"

"If you say so"

Natsu went back to the ground and took her clothes, putting it on under the table. After she was done, she made her way to the bed and sat beside the lad.

"So, you'll bring me with you?"

"Is what we agree, but in a condition that you will be listening to all that I say to you during those days. Got it"

"YESSIR," The pink-haired doll cheered, lying beside the lad. "Then I'll go ahead and sleep. Good night"

"Night" Gray replied, standing from his bed and to his table. Pressing on his phone, sending the image to his friend. He was about to sleep when a sudden realization hit him. "Oh no, I forgot. I have homework to do" the lad fussed, picking up his bag and started writing on his paper.

A sudden chill of glare from his window gave him goosebumps, looking outside to find no one near his house. Scared, the lad stood up and closed his curtain in haste, trying to finish his work.


	8. Episode 7

A humanoid goat was out from his key, wearing his suit he made his way to his master's bed. Touching her arm, trying to wake up the lass, "It's morning already Lucy" the goat called to his master, who only turned her back at him. In defeat, the goat made a pair of cymbals out of nowhere and played with it near his master's ear.

The young lass finally woke up from her slumber, covering her ears from the piercing sound that came from the cymbals. Sitting up from her bed, to make her celestial spirit stop. She looked at her clock and noticed the time. Thinking she will be late for their class, she stood up and got ready in haste. Putting on her shoes, she made her way out of her house after she placed the goat back to his key.

The bell rang when the blond woman finally arrived in her classroom, "Barely in time" she mumbled to herself. Walking towards her table and sitting on her chair. She turned on her right to find her childhood friend Gray staring at the window beside his chair. Curious, she was about to call out to him, but the teacher already came before she could.

Homeroom started and their lazy teacher took their attendance, he left the room again after he gave a discussion about their field trip for tomorrow.

Minutes later, their next teacher came to start their first lesson. Suddenly, the raven-haired man who was sitting beside the window let out a shout. The brown-haired teacher who wore his hair in a receding hairline formed into a spiked shape asked the surprised young man. Gray only looked back at the window and shook his head from left to right. Curious, but Wakaba Mine continued on with his lesson.

Lucy was surprised by his sudden behavior that she decided to observe the young lad.

Their hungry stomach was already filled with food when she asked her friend about this morning. The lad only shook his head and told her nothing. They continued to stay inside the cafeteria, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Lucy, want to see pictures of Natsu in her swimsuit?" the red-haired asked. Nodding her head, Erza showed her the picture that the young man had sent her.

"It really does suit her" the blond woman commented, smiling towards the redhead.

The bell had already rung and the students made their way to their respective classroom.

Lucy and Gray's next lesson is Physical activities, and so they are requested to wear the right uniform for the said subject. The students changed into their gym uniform and made their way to the gym building to gather up. The class was asked to practice their magic control and so they were requested for a friendly duel by the pair.

Gray and Alzack decided to have a short friendly brawl. The blond-haired woman was invited for a clash by Bisca, but refused, saying she will stay with the others who practiced on their own on the side.

Lucy made her way to the other side of the court and started to open her goat key. Capricorn came out after the flash vanished and started his training with his master. Minutes later she was exhausted from sitting and trying to raise her magic level. Standing up she made her way out of the building to get some to drink.

The young lady turned and heard a small voice on the corner. She hurried her way and found nothing. She felt her spine chilled and made her way out, hurrying to buy some bottles. She made haste on returning to the gym, but her steps halted after seeing the back of what she thought was a dwarf. The said dwarf turned around, her eyes cannot be seen, only her pink hair and her smirking lips were bestowed on her eyes. "I'll kill him" the dwarf mumbled to herself.

Shock and surprise the lass let out a shout, making the people near her hurried their way to the shouting girl. When the other students came, the small human was already out of her sight.

"What's wrong?" one of the students asked, holding her up.

"I saw something" the lass mumbled in confusion, "it said something like 'kill'" she continued. The others asked her curiously, but then they started to laugh after she had explained what she saw.

Lucy made her way to her gym class, pouting, and still in fear. "Why won't they believe me," she thought to herself.

Gray made his way to Lucy and asked what was wrong. The lass thought she would believe him and pulled him at the corner.

"I saw a dwarf" she mumbled to his ears.

The lad remained silent and started to chuckle from her words. Lucy started to feel pissed and slapped his head, "I really did see, the dwarf looks like a small human, almost like a doll, and his hair was pink and he said something like "I'll kill him".

The half-naked man remained still after her explanation about how the dwarf looks like, realizing what it is. He immediately sprung out from the gym and started looking for the dwarf that she had said. "That damn slanted eyes," the lad thought to himself, looking around for the said dwarf.

Lucy was baffled by the raven-haired, but she shook it off and went back towards her classmates. "I wonder if he needs to go to the toilet" the lass wondered.

Gym class had already finished but the Gray still had not returned to his class. Lucy opened the magazine that she bought, a way to spend their self-study when the teachers are out. Some girls started to gather around her, choosing the cutest and sexiest outfit that they can find.

Bisca Mulan, a straight green-haired lady, borrowed her magazine, thinking of buying swimsuits for their trip. Lucy handed her the magazine, smiling towards her friend. Standing from her table, she walked towards the window, dragging Gray's chair in the process, for her to sit.

Opening the window slightly an image from below caught her attention. The pink-haired dwarf that she saw near the gym building was now standing at the center of the field. Gasping in surprise, she grabbed her classmate's arm and showed her what she saw. But her classmate saw nothing.

"Are you alright Lucy?" her worried classmate asked.

"No, I'm fine, just tired I think" the blond lied, facing the window to find the dwarf again, running from left to right as if being chased by someone. Curious, Lucy sprung up from the room, telling her classmates she was going to the clinic.

She made a jump from the stairs and slid herself from the stair handle. Jumping and running on her way to the field, determined on catching the dwarf. Upon arriving, no one was around, walking her way to the middle, only to catch a glimpse of a pin hair by the bushes. Running her way and she made a jump, but what she caught was the gardener wearing a pink towel on his head.

Lucy apologized to the old man and tried to look for a pink-haired. Making her way at the back of the gym storage, she heard noises inside.

"What do you think you are doing?" a small voice shouted.

She was about to speak when a much louder voice came out.

"That's my line you Flame brain bastard" Lucy listened carefully and recognized the louder voice, "Gray?" she thought to herself.

"NATSU, WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" the lad shouted again.

The blond-haired lass got curious and she was about to peek inside, only to be called by Gray.

"Lucy what are you doing here?" the lad asked.

"You were inside just now, right?"

"Huh? No, I was sitting by the tree, when I saw you peeking." Gray lied to his friend, trying to make her go away.

"I see" Lucy made a peek inside but found no one. She made a confused expression and went back to her classroom, leaving the lad alone.

After he checked that she was away. He went back inside only to find the doll, not insight. An irritated shout came from his throat, kicking the boxes on his side.

Lucy was making her way back to her classroom. Passing by the empty science lab a sudden chuckle was what she heard inside. Curious she knocked on the door and no one answered. Opening the door slightly for her to peek, to find no one in sight, then suddenly a pink hair appeared right before her peeking eyes.

Terrified, she fell down on her butt, shouting at the door. Realizing her loud shout, she closed it with her arms and stood up. "That Pink bastard, I'll catch you this time," she thought to herself. Opening the door and she went inside, closing the wooden door behind her. She made her way to the board and tried to peek under the table, but found no one. Goosebumps suddenly roused up from her skin, looking around, she noticed the skull was standing as if looking at her. Dead bodies of animals are placed at the back of the class. She felt the cold air passed by her skin, but tried to control her fear. She made way to the other table and went to the middle, a chuckle was then heard from her back and she turned her head in fear to find no one. Sighing in relief she faced back and found a floating head in front of her. Alarmed, Lucy punched the doll, as she screamed from how the head had moved back and forth after she had given it a punch.

The door suddenly opened and one of her teachers arrived, "What are you doing Lucy?"

Lucy let out a laugh and tried to laugh while making her way to the other door, "Nothing" she replied, hurrying her way away from the strict teacher.

After a turn and another turn, Lucy halted her steps and tried to catch air for her lungs.

"That pink bastard, when I find him and I'll give him his divine punishment for making fun of me" she murmured to herself and started to look for the pink-haired dwarf.

On the other side, Gray was still looking for his wild doll, which is currently running and hiding around the campus, when suddenly a thought came to his mind. Without further wait, he made his way to Juvia's classroom. The lady who knew about the energized doll.

Lucy was now at the rooftop, after seeing a pink-haired dwarf running her way up the stairs. She closed the door behind her and spoke, "You can't get away from me this time" the lass warned the doll, who she thought was a dwarf.

Natsu left out a chuckle trying to hold her laughter, "This woman sure is fun to play with" she thought to herself, cheeks painted with red from laughing too much. She made a jump to the highest roof and crouched down, seeing the blond-haired lass walking out from under the roof, the doll made a fire breath.

Lucy shouted in fear. She was about to open one of her gates, when a half-naked doll with his intestines visible came flying towards her, knocking her down, losing consciousness.

The pink-haired doll let out a laugh, holding her stomach. "PERFECT" she laughed when a shadow suddenly loomed over her.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL" Gray shouted her name loudly, the doll tried to laugh, asking him to join the fun. But all she received was a piercing glare from her lover.

Curling his palm, making a punch to the Natsu doll's head. Crying loudly from the pain, Natsu made a run to the blue-haired lass. "Juvia, Gray is meanie, don't go near him," the doll told her friend, who only chuckled.

"That's because you made fun of one of his friends, you shouldn't do that again Natsu" Juvia scolded the doll as if she was her daughter.

"What are you two? Mother and Daughter?"

"Then that will make you the Father" Juvia smirked, "and I would be happy if you will be my Husband"

"No, Th-" the lad was about to speak when the doll intercepted his words. "Too bad for you Juvia, but Gray is already MINE" the doll smirked, jumping away from her.

Gray let the two have their fight and went to help the terrified girl on the ground. Picking her up, placing his hands on her back and under her knees. Natsu noticed the lad the way he carried her and shouted towards the man.

"Don't carry her like that," the doll shouted to the lad.

"Huh?! And how the hell should I carry her"

"Give her a piggy ride, not a bridal carry" the doll shouted back.

"Who cares?"

"I CARE"

"You know, Natsu. Whose fault is it that Lucy is unconscious?"

"Mine, but don't carry her like that"

"Whatever, reflect on what you have done, or I'll take back what I said to you yesterday"

"Fine, I reflect, don't carry her as that" Natsu insisted.

"I don't think you're not"

The doll felt her tears again and breathed a fire towards the lad, "I TOLD YOU I REFLECT. DON'T CARRY HER LIKE THAT" the doll shouted with her lungs out.

The ice magician fell silent from her sudden shout and decided to carry his friend as what she had requested. "There. Happy?" Natsu showed a smile from her face and jumped her way to his shoulder, "You're not allowed to carry someone like that except me" she mumbled to her own, making the Ice mage sweatdrop.

Lucy was already conscious when she found Gray and Juvia hovering above her with worry, "What happened to me?" she asked her company.

"We found you unconscious at the rooftop"

Lucy sat up from the bed, "What happened with the dwarf? And the fire? And then something came flying, Pink?" the blond mumbled to herself, shaking the lad in front of her. Gray let out a small chuckle trying to smile towards the frightened girl.

"I think you are just dreaming Lucy"

"That was not a dream"

"No, I think it was because Juvia was reading at the rooftop, then Juvia saw you coming and sat down beside the door, later on, you fell asleep. That was when Gray came" Juvia lied to her friend, hoping she would believe.

"Oh, I see. Sorry about that Gray. Did you carry me here?"

Gray nodded his head in response and let out a sigh. Turning his head to Juvia and he moved his lips to word out 'Thanks'. Juvia formed a smile on her face and gave him a tap on his shoulder.

It was already time for the students to go home. When Gray had rushed his way out of the classroom, to retrieve the doll that he had left at the gym storage. He went inside and took Natsu who was hiding inside a box.

"Natsu, We made an agreement right? I warn you, I can still take that back if you do this again. Got it?"

The pink-haired doll nodded in response and promised to behave on their way back to their house.

"Lucy, here's the magazine, thanks for letting me borrow"

"No problem" The blond lass smiled at her friend taking the magazine from her hands and placing it inside her bag.

"Anyway Lucy, where were you this afternoon? You missed almost all of the afternoon classes, you know"

"Oh, my stomach started to hurt so I went to sleep in the clinic"

"I see. You better eat healthy foods, okay?" Bisca teased, riding with her joke.

Lucy spoke, "I do eat lots of healthy foods," she replied smiling to her friend.

"Bisca, let's go" Alzeck called out to her.

"What's this? Out on a date to buy swimsuits?" the blond-haired teased in revenge, poking Bsca's tummy, making the lass blush. Bisca bid her farewell to her friend and made her way to her neighbor and crush.

Lucy let out a smile and stared at the window, later she saw Gray making his way out, her eyes started to widen when a Pink haired doll made a peek from his shoulder. She let out a gasp and prayed.

Gray was on his way home when an orange-haired male came to his view. Gray halted on his steps, stopping in front of the lad.

"Oh, Leo. What are you doing here?"

The man let out a smirk and faced him in front, crouching down to the pink-haired doll's level.

"I know what you did to Lucy, you know" the man blurted to the doll, who made her flinch from his voice.

Gray tried to intercept him but failed as Leo continued talking to the doll, "Don't worry, I won't tell the others and I won't hurt you since I don't like hurting beautiful ladies. But please avoid doing that to our Lucy, Okay Ms. Natsu Dragneel?" The lad ended up making the doll face him.

The pink-haired doll-faced him and nodded her head in response, grabbing at Grays' shirt, hiding her face inside. "I'm sorry" the doll apologized.

"That's good then, but I need to thank you too. At least she will have the courage to face her fears" the lion smiled at her, patting her head. Natsu flinched from his touch and faced the man in front of her.

"Then, I'll be going. Sorry about that Gray, I just need to talk with this little Natsu here" Leo apologized, fading away from their sight.

"No, it's okay. See yah"

Natsu continued to stare at the place where Leo vanished, facing Gray with her eyes sparkling, "Hey Gray, How did he do that?" she asked curiously

"Do what?"

"When he disappeared"

"That? Because he is not human"

Natsu had her eyes shine and her mouth turning in 'O' shape, amazed from the vanishing act the Lion made in front of her. Gray noticed someone coming his way and warned the doll to stay still, Natsu obliged and sat on his arm as a doll would.


	9. Episode 8

"Gray hurry up, UP! UP! UP!" the doll shouted to his ears, jumping up and down on the bed, disrupting his peaceful sleep. The lad grabbed the doll by her stomach and placed her on his side, trying to get some more sleep. Pissed, the doll made a loud shout to his ear, waking him up.

"What the hell are you doing, NATSU?"

"Hurry and get ready, today's field trip day, right?" Natsu cheered towards him, flashing him her widest smile.

The lad scratched his head and stood up, checking his clock to find it an hour early. "It's not even time yet. We still have an hour left."

"But I am hungry"

Gray released a sigh in annoyance, as he got out of his room towards the kitchen. Taking out some sausages and eggs for breakfast from the refrigerator, and cooking them in the frying pan. After he was done cooking, he plated the food and placed it on top of the table together with the bread. Taking some water out from the refrigerator and went back to his room. His Mother passed him by, wondering why he brought his breakfast up. The lad lied and went straight to his room in a hurry. Setting the food down to the table for the waiting doll to eat, but found no signs of the pink-haired doll. Gray turned towards his bed and found the doll sleeping.

The young man sighed, "and here she asked me for food and ended up sleeping". He used the extra plate he bought and covered the breakfast with it, setting it aside for her to eat when she wakes up. Deciding to take a bath first, he picked up his towel and made his way to the bathroom.

His raven-haired sister passed him by, clothes almost falling from her shoulder. Rubbing her eyes she made her way to eat breakfast. Following his sister behind, he turned and went straight to the bathroom only to find it locked. Knocking on the door, he could hear his brother's voice from the inside.

He sighed and went to watch television while waiting. Half an hour later, his brother is finally done, checking the time to find the hour pointing at 6:30. The young Fullbuster made his way inside the bathroom and washed his body in a hurry, rinsing the soaped body with water, washing his hair, and brushing his teeth. He wrapped his towel around his waist and went back to his room.

"What took you so long?" the doll asked him, checking her bag with her clothes that she had asked gray to buy. Currently, she is now wearing a hooded dress with the red swimsuit under it.

Gray went and wore his clothes after he was done. He picked up his bag and asked the doll to get inside.

"Do I really have to?" The toddler-sized doll whined.

"We made an agreement, right?" Gray replied, earning a loud sigh from Natsu

"Fine" she blurted, putting her feet inside, sitting on the towel placed inside the bag. The doll remained pouting as Gray closed the bag, leaving a small gap open for her to breathe. A smile appeared from his face after hearing a loud squeal inside.

"SNACKS" the doll shouted cheerily, opening a bag of chips.

Gray walked close to his backpack and picked it up, placing the heavy bag on his back. He made his way downstairs and bid his mother goodbye. Minutes of walking Gray finally arrived at the school. A dark blue-haired man came and greeted him, telling him to ride the bus designated for their group. After Finding the Bus, Gray made his way inside and placed his backpack in the carriage box. Lucy raised her hands, waving to the newly arrived male with excitement on her eyes. Another blue-haired lass, greeted him, calling for his attention to sit beside her, but he refused. Making his way behind the blond lass's seat, sitting beside a black haired male.

"Morning Gray" Alzack greeted. "You sure got late"

Gray nodded his head, telling him his brother took his time inside the bath. "I didn't even get to eat." he sighed. Putting his hand inside, thinking of pulling some bag of chips from his bag. But a painful shout left his mouth, after the occupant inside bit his hand. Pissed, he punched the bag with his other hand, making the doll scream in pain.

"What was that?" His seatmate asked curiously.

"Just my Phone" Gray laughed, taking out his phone from his pocket.

"I see, but that's a weird ringtone you got"

Gray placed his palm at the back of his head, scratching while trying to let out a laugh.

Later, their homeroom teacher came and the bus started to close. Clapping his hands to earn his minion's attention. "Everyone here?" He called to them, looking around his students, checking if all the students were inside. "Good looks like we are missing one person." A loud thud was heard from the bus' door, sparing a glance to find one of his students knocking on the door of the bus. The driver opened the door, welcoming the out of breath student.

"Sorry, I am late" Warren Roco, a slim man with black hair, apologized to his teacher.

"Good thing, you arrived," Macao smiled to his student, telling him to sit on one of the empty chairs.

Seconds later, the bus finally started to run.

The dark blue haired teacher stood up from his seat, taking the microphone from the cabinet and turning it on. A sudden ear-painful sound crept out from the microphone, making the others cover their ears from the screeching sound.

"This is a test" Macao talked over the phone, tapping it with his hands. After knowing it is now fine to use, he started talking to his students about their itinerary.

"Okay, class. Before we reach Akane. We need to tour around first." he announced, earning loud shouts from the students.

"First we will go to Onibus and watch a theater, after that, we will have our lunch at Oshibana town. After that, we will be going to Akane Beach Resort. Tomorrow will be a secret. That's all" He ended, leaving the students to continue their loud chatter.

An hour passed and a group of youngsters finally fell silent. Lucy had fallen asleep after talking for an hour with her friend. Juvia was busy on her phone, mailing her friends. The young Fullbuster was about to fall asleep when he felt something wet from his lap. Raising his bag, to find his lap dry. Hearing a slurred moan from his bag, he opened it to find the doll with her face green, and the inside was wet with the water bottle opened and empty.

Worried, Gray opened his mouth to ask "Are you alright?" he whispered to her, making sure the lad beside him didn't hear.

The doll shook her head in response and released the food she ate inside the bottle container.

Gray felt pitiful towards her and decided to rub her back, trying to soothe her up. Finding that it was useless, he tugged his friend's shirt.

"Alzack do you have some Motion sickness medicine with you?"

"Hmm? Gray, you don't feel well?"

It took long before Gray responded, but he nodded his head in response not saying anything.

"Here you go," His friend handed him the medicine.

"Thanks" the raven muttered, placing his hands inside the bag, he cut the medicine in half, putting the halved medicine on her mouth and opening another bottle of water that he bought with him and placing the lid of the opened bottle to her mouth. Natsu gulped the medicine and lied down to the wet towel beside her, trying to get some sleep from dizziness.

Half an hour passed and the Second years finally arrived at Onibus Town. The bus made a stop at an empty park area, opening its door, letting the students roam around the area.

Once all of his classmates were out, he slightly opened his bag, checking the dizzy doll inside. "Natsu, you'll be left here alone. So don't you dare get out from the bus or you'll be left behind" he warned, but all he received was a soft moan, signing that she was sound asleep.

Forming a small smile from his lips, he closed the bag, leaving an opening for air to come through. Placing the blue bag on his chair and making his way out of the bus.

Once they were gathered, the group of students with their advisers made their way to the Scheherazade Theater. Waiting for them was a short height man with Purplish hair that goes up to two very small, round "ponytails" at the top of his head and is slightly puffed up at the center.

"Thank you very much for coming, students from FairyTail, right? I would like to welcome you to my Theater" The man greeted.

"Same here, Thank you for having us to your theater. We are excited to see what play we will be seeing soon" Wakaba Mine, a light brown-haired man, greeted.

"No, no, we are very delighted to show you one of our plays. Thank you very much"

After the teachers had introduced themselves, the purplish haired man had courted them to their area.

"This here," he said, while pointing his finger to the vacant chairs in front, "are for you to sit and enjoy the show. The show will be starting soon, Please relax and enjoy. Thank you very much"

"I see, thank you for showing us to our seats, although there are many of us. How come you have fewer guests?" Mine asked curiously, looking around the theater seats.

"Well, actually" Rabian remained silent for a while and a sigh left his mouth. "I am ashamed to say this, but some of my actors quit, so I only have five actors to play. But don't worry. You will get what you paid for."

"So it means this theater is soon going down." A tan skin woman commented, drinking juice from her cup.

"Cana, shh" her blond-haired friend Lucy, hushed her.

"I am sad to say, but yes indeed. That's why I am very happy to have you here. Thank you very much" he bowed, showing tears from his eyes.

Minutes later, a loud beep was heard and the lights turned dark. The curtains started to rise accompanied by a warm soothing song from a brown-haired lass playing the harp.

Students and some of the audience got bewitched by the song.

"What a beautiful voice" Lucy commented, absorbing the words that came out from the signing musician.

"Sounds wonderful" Her Blue haired friend, Levy McGarden agreed.

Another spotlight was then lit and a dark green-haired woman, dressing up as a man came to their view. The lass advanced her hand and attempted to speak. But then she ends up, shaking from her knees and stuttering her words. "My... Na...Fred... Prince... came... to... save... you" the lass stuttered trying to avoid eye contact with the audience. Making the audience laugh at her play.

"It's okay, do your best, PRINCE" one of the females from the audience seat shouted, forming hearts on her eyes.

"She's frozen stiff" Droy commented from his seat.

"No, I can feel the earnest nervousness in her performance" His orange-haired friend named Jet added, trying to control his laughter.

"I... with ten swords..." the actress continued, still shivering with stage fright. "With ten swords of...," the dark green haired spoke, getting dizzy from the lights. Suddenly a circle was opened and arrows came out of nowhere, hitting their way towards the audience.

"What the..." Lucy commented.

"Hmm, she has the same power as Erza" Gray commented from her back.

"You're risking your life just watching this play" a young beige haired teacher commented. Trying to avoid being hit by the arrows.

"How fun, isn't it Mr. Alors?" one of his students under his class commented.

"Which part?" he shouted back, avoiding another arrow.

The other stage actors in the backstage started to panic.

"Oh, please save me, Prince Frederick" the woman chimed. "I've been captured by Seinhart"

"Seinhart?" a confused brown-haired woman asked, raising one of her brows while facing Lucy from her side.

Lucy let out a smile and raised her shoulders while moving her head from left to right.

Another actor came out and a spotlight beam towards him.

"My name is Julius" the man introduced "If you want the Princess back, then fight me" he challenged, facing the tip of his fake sword towards the lass dressing as a man.

Shouts and laughter from the audience came out asking who the new actor that came out.

"What happened to Seinhart?" another audience member asked.

Sweat fell from the dark blue-haired teacher, placing his head to his palm. "I don't understand," he sighed.

"F-f-f-fight! Fight! Fight!" The lass chanted, moving her head towards the other actor with her face turning green. "F-fight! Fight!" the lass repeated.

"Thanks for the hard work, how excellent of you to pass by an anonymous passerby" she called out to no one. "Please allow Prince Frederick to rest for a little wh _ ile." _

A tick from the clocked passed and the dark green haired revived from her hiding. "I've caught my breath! I'm back" the woman dressed in a male's clothes chattered, facing her swords towards the watchers.

The audience cheered and shouted with excitement.

The man let out a smile and took the sword attached to his hips. "Take this, Ice of sword" he claimed, pressing a switch making his sword turn to blue and shine from the lights.

The seated audience started to cheer again, amazed by the sudden turn of the show.

"Why y-you" the lady breathed "I-I have, T-ten swords" he started to stutter again. A Wide circle started to appear, and arrows started coming out of nowhere.

"Swords? More like arrows" the laughing audience commented to his seatmate.

The arrows started to try to hit their target, they landed in front of the man, and let out a squeal "SAVE ME!" he shouted as per the script, running his way to the side.

The audience started to laugh, commenting about the weak Julius.

"What realism" one of the students concluded.

"Is this what they call marriage blues?" another one continued.

"How long until he appears?" another student asked her friend beside her. The girl that she had asked shook her head in response, averting her gaze back to the show.

"Thank you very much, Prince Frederick" the black-haired woman in a dress thanked the lass.

"P-Princess Yanderica, let us make many children. About 30 or so" the dark green-haired lass expressed, kneeling in front offering her hand to the princess.

The audience, especially Jet and Droy let out a loud laugh from the kneeling actress "Isn't that moving a bit fast?" the black-haired student asked his friend.

"Wait, I don't get it," Mr. Conbolt commented.

"This play is surreal...but Prince Frederick is dreamy" one of the students commented from her seat.

"This is starting to get interesting," the young teacher added.

After a second from laughter, the actor came out back." Your brief respite is now over, thusly!"

"Julius is back" Lucy shouted from her seat. Cana laughs from the hilarious play and Levy starts to get confused.

"What's with the thusly?" another audience member asked no one.

The actor shoved his hand in front and called out for his dragon. "Come, My Dragon."

The wall started to shake and a small smoke came out, the red light started to appear from the stage and a wide Dragon composed with boxes and barrels appeared. "Finally, my turn" the Dragon shouted, pressing the gun to let out a fire from the Dragon's mouth.

The Chairman standing on the side nodded his head. Liking how the story goes.

"I will destroy everything. I am a Dragon" Firing the gun again. Not stopping. The actors and actresses below started to cover their bodies from the fire.

"In that case, we must join forces" the actor offered, earning a mad shout from the audience after the Prince agreed.

"You're the one who called him" the audience shouted. "What kind of twist is that?" another shouted.

The black-haired princess moved forward and opened her mouth to speak "I'll keep it Busy. You two make a run for it"

"Princess, what the hell are you doing?" an anonymous audience asked. The others started to laugh and some were confused.

The green-haired lady moved forward and agreed, thanking the Princess, while they made a run for it. The group of watchers started to laugh, some are shouting about the running lads. The Dragon started to run out of control, and the rope holding him got cut, making him fall to the ground and lose his hold of the Fire Gun. The princess dress got caught by the fire and asked her friends for help. But before they can the stuttering Prince cut off her clothes with her sword. Making the boys drip blood from their nose.

"Thank you very much," the chairman commented from the side.

Taking off his cape, wrapping it around the naked Princess. "Princess, are you okay?" the stage-frightened prince asked without problems. The black-haired actress glared at her co-actor from gaining sudden confidence. But alas, the man inside the Dragon started to cry from pain, the air started to gather from his mouth, firing it all around.

"Stop it you Idiot" the man commented, trying to help the boy out. But failed as the wind started to turn into a tornado. The audiences tried to hold their chair, afraid to get pulled.

"I-in th-that case. I'll punish you all" the stuttering prince warned, charging her way to the crying Dragon.

The building started to shake and break, falling the pieces to the ground. Minutes passed, and the only thing that was left was the stage and unharmed audiences and actors. The audience started to cheer for the ongoing fight and the chairman smiled widely. Liking the sound of cheers from his guest. Finally, the show ended with his building gone.

"Thank you very much for watching the show" Rabian greeted the teachers.

"No, no, it's us who should thank you" Mr. Wakaba greeted back.

Are the words that were heard by the students who made their way towards their busses. Gray hurried his way inside the bus, to find his bag and a still sleeping doll inside. Letting out a sigh, he sat in his chair placing the bag on his lap carefully.

"That sure was hilarious" Lucy commented to her friend, earning her a nod.

"But it was kind of a bit confusing though," Levy added.

"Who cares? It's funny" Cana concluded, yawning her way to her seat. "I'm Hungry"

Soon the teacher came and informed them of their next stop.


	10. Episode 9

It was exactly twelve in the afternoon when the bus arrived at their next destination. The Oshibana town, a quite small and friendly town. But unexpectedly they have the most exotic and delicious food. The second-year students were already inside a restaurant, except for a raven-haired man currently giving a warning to the naughty doll to behave. The boy left the bus, his eyes not leaving at the doll peeking from the window. Minutes later he came back inside and found the doll opening another bag of chips, eating with delight.

"You're eating another bag of chips again. You'll get fat if you continue that" Gray warned.

"Nuuh. I am a doll. So I have no fats." trying to prove her point, she held the end part of her dress revealing her red swimsuit and flat tummy to the man.

"Whatever" the man rolled his eyes and placed her lunchbox on his seat. "Eat this, and after that, put everything back to this plastic and just leave it on the floor," he instructed. "If someone will come inside, hide inside the bag, and stay hidden. Got it?" He ended, earning a big nod from the doll.

The lad left again and went back to the restaurant to have his lunch. Placing the chips on the side, she opened her lunchbox and started to eat her fill. "Gray sure knows my favorites." Natsu thought happily while munching on a chicken leg.

Back at the Restaurant, Lucy shouted towards the raven-haired lad while raising her hands and waving towards him. Gray turned his head at them and walked towards their table to find his friends eating their meal. Lucy smiled at their newly arrived friend and pointed at an empty seat. The cheerful blond was sitting in between Levy and Juvia. Cana pointed at the seat in between her and Juvia, while drinking the special drinks that were catered for them. 

Sitting at the vacant seat, he could hear Jet and Droy talking to each other while asking Levy for random things. His eyes averted to the crowd and were smirking after seeing Alzack and Bisca being chummy with each other. He was busy observing his classmates while waiting for his meal when he remembered that it was actually a Buffet. Standing up, he left the table to grab some food. Minutes passed by and some were already done eating and are just now talking with each other. When a sudden nudge from Droy called out his attention.

"You sure took your time in the bathroom earlier" Droy commented while drinking on his glass.

"Yeah, there was a long line outside" The raven-haired man lied, turning his plate up and taking some food from the middle of the table.

Gray was about to place the food on his mouth when another nudge from an elbow to his arms disrupted him "Anyway Gray, I was surprised to know that Natsu didn't come with you" the blue-haired lass beside him whispered in a soft voice.

"Well, actually. She came with me" He responded in a whisper to her ears.

Juvia winded her eyes and chuckled "I see, I got the feeling that she will and where is she now?"

"On the bus. Eating."

A pink-haired doll was emptying a lunch box the raven-haired man had left for her. Tapping her bloated tummy with a sigh, "I'm so full, thanks for the food" the doll chanted to her own, and her face started to form a smile. Standing up from where she sat, she made her way back to the plastic. "Here it is" she exclaimed, a wide smile crept to her cheerful face. Taking out the yogurt from the bag, she opened the lid and used the spoon as she fed herself. She emptied the cup within fifteen seconds and burped happily from the dessert. "That hits the spot!" she chimed again like a drunken man.

Standing back up, she made her way to the empty plastic bag and started putting away the empty cup and lunch box inside. Tying the plastic tightly, she pushed it back to the ground as what the Ice Mage had told her.

She stood up from the chair and started to shuffle around the snacks inside, looking for a certain device. When her hands grasped the device on her hand, she sat back down and started playing the games Gray downloaded for her. Minutes of enjoying her game, when the phone started to buzz, causing her to drop the phone to the ground. Letting out an irritated sigh, she jumped her way down to the ground near the trash that she had thrown.

"You really like to surprise me, don't you? You Phone Bastard" the toddler-sized doll murmured to herself, picking it up with both hands. She was about to make her way back up when the door of the bus suddenly opened.

"Hurry up Droy, how can you forget your money like that" one of the students told his friend, with an irritated voice.

"Sorry about that jet, I thought it was my wallet that I took" The other one replied

After hearing their voices, Natsu hurried her way under the chair, trying to make herself hidden as much as possible. Two sets of feet passed her by, still talking and looking for his bag. Minutes passed and the student found his bag, opening his bag to look for his wallet. "Here it is" The black-haired student exclaimed, replacing the empty pocket with his other wallet. He closed it back and placed it back to the bag rack. "Let's go," Droy called out to his friend.

"Why do you even have two wallets?" his friend complained while walking behind him. Droy just laughed and went out of the bus.

Natsu was hiding under the chair when the two students made their way outside. Hearing the door close back again, she made a peak from the window. The two students headed towards some shops. She went back to her chair and went inside the bag. Turning on the phone again, she started playing some game apps while waiting for Gray to come back.

Gray was already done eating his meal when he decided to check Natsu on the bus. His blue-haired friend, Juvia, followed behind him smiling happily. Once they got inside the bus, Natsu had leaped towards the lad.

"Gray, what took you so long?" she shouted in joy. Gray immediately grabbed her from the back of her clothes and pushed her inside the bag.

"What are you doing idiot, what if someone came with me" the raven-haired scolded.

"But I saw you outside, together with Juvia" The doll responded with a pout.

"It's been a while, Natsu," Juvia greeted.

"What if others came behind me, are you an idiot?"

"That's why I told you, I saw you outside with Juvia only, Slanted eyes"

"What was the flame brain, you want to start a fight with the person who took you on his trip?"

"No I am not, I am very sorry Master Gray" the doll responded in a Monotone voice.

"Now, Gray, you shouldn't be fighting," Juvia intervened. Sweat-dripping from the sight

"Whatever" was his response after picking up the trash under his chair, "Juvia, please watch over Natsu while I throw this one."

"Sure, no problem," Juvia responded with a smile, looking at the retrieving figure of the raven-haired lad.

Juvia faced Natsu with a smile painted on her face, "So, You forced Gray to bring you?" she asked curiously, sitting at the opposite chair.

"Yup, but with conditions he said"

"Is that so? Anyway. Did Erza give that dress to you?"

The doll shook her head and beamed a smile towards her, while turning around, "Nope, I had Gray buy this for me".

"Looks good" Juvia smiled in response. "Want some chocolates?" Juvia offered to her friend, digging her hands inside her pocket, pulling out some bars inside. Natsu made a wide nod and opened her palm in front of her, Juvia placed the bars on her awaiting palms. "By the way Natsu" Juvia continued, "I'm still trying to make Gray fall in love with me and I'll take this opportunity to do so" were her words of challenge to the 'Bloody Princess'.

Natsu raised one of her eyebrows and smirked placing her arms in front of her crossing them, "Sorry but Gray is already head over heels in love with me and we're dating".

"Well, we don't know. He might fall in love with me, after the trip"

"Oh? Let's see then." the smaller lass accepted, a smirk still planted on her face.

"Since I am Human and you're still a Doll, so I have the upper hand on this match" Juvia responded, trying to make the other pissed.

"Sorry, but I get to stay with him all day and night. Since he told me so" the other responded.

Their argument over Gray was stopped when the topic of their conversation came to their view. Juvia stood up from where she sat, planning to give the lad a hug. But was defeated after the doll jumped towards the man first.

"Thanks, Gray, I love you so much" the doll greeted, facing the other with a sneer.

"Yeah, yeah" Gray responded, placing his hand under the doll, to avoid her from falling.

A pissed Juvia opened her mouth to speak, grabbing for the doll's hooded dress. "You shouldn't do that Natsu, what if someone will come and see you jumping around." the lass warned with a smug look, placing her back inside the bag.

"What are you talking about? No one's still here" The doll shouted, trying to get away from her grasp.

"Anyway. She's right Natsu. Get back inside, before the others will come"

Indeed, minutes later. The students started to fill the empty bus, sitting at their own seats.

The pink-haired doll was left pouting inside the bag. The man who she called her lover had closed the bag while leaving a space for her to breathe. Annoyed after Juvia won a little match she kicked the inside of the bag that was currently on Gray's lap.

"Gray, you're here already?" Lucy curiously asked her friend.

"Yeah, I was just too full and I wanted to rest" he responded.

"Too bad, I saw lots of amazing stuff outside. Well, here you go. This one's for you" Lucy smiled, handing him a key chain that was attached with a doll. Turning it around, a familiar face came to his mind.

"It looks like her, right?" Lucy smiled.

"Yeah, where did you buy this?"

"In front of the restaurant where we ate. There was a lady in front and was selling this doll keychain"

"I see"

"But that lady was kinda bit weird"

"Why?"

"Well, she called out to me and told me to give this to you," she answered, making Gray widen his eyes.

"No need to worry, I made sure with Loke that that is not cursed," Lucy assured, smiling towards the raven-haired.

"I see. Thanks"

She was about to sit down when she remembered the lady's name. "Anyway, Gray. Do you know anyone that is called 'Hikaru'?"

"No" He responded, opening his mouth again to ask 'why'

"Nothing".

Minutes passed and the teacher finally came, telling the driver to start to head to their final destination for the day after checking his students were inside. Gray was curious to find his seatmate, not beside him. Calling out to his teacher to inform him of his absence, but the black-haired young man called out to him, Gray smirked after seeing Alzack with Bisca again. Sitting back to the chair, he transferred the bag to the window seat. Opening the curtains slightly to see a lady dressed in black facing him with a smile while giving him a wave with her hands. The young man felt his skin stand up from his arms, closing the curtains back in haste, he sat back down and tried to calm down.

"Why is she here?" he thought to himself, remembering the girl that he always sees outside his window.

"Are you alright Gray?" the worried tone came from the doll, who was poking half of her head out. In a panic, he let out a yelp. Realizing what he had done, she pushed back the head of the doll inside.

"What's wrong Gray?" their teacher asked, curiously. "Did you lose something?"

The young student shook his head in response. Calming back to his chair, he opened his bag a bit and warned the doll again.

"Don't scare me like that"

"I did not. I was just worried. So are you alright?"

"Yeah, I am fine. Anyways don't do that again, got it"

The doll huffed and crossed her arms, "Fine, this beautiful lady here will busy herself playing with your phone in peace and quiet and will not worry about you" the doll responded, pulling the zipper holder to close halfway for her to breath.

After hours of travel, the second-years finally arrived at the resort. Walking their way out of the stuffy bus, inhaling the fresh air from the sea while stretching their numb muscles after three hours of sitting inside the bus. Some students had already started grabbing for their bags. Some are walking around and taking pictures with their friends. It was a minute later when their teacher called their attention and assigned them to their rooms.

"Okay, is everyone here?" Conbolt asked, receiving a loud response from his excited students.

"This here is your room assignment. I bet you already had grouped yourselves right, this here is your room number. Take the card keys with you and you can head to your room. Each envelope has four card keys on it, okay? So as I call your names, come and take your envelopes. By the way, make sure not to lose your card keys, got it?"

"Wan Chanzi, Warren Rocko, Krov, Vijeeter Ecor. Come here and take your envelope" The older man handed the envelope to them and went on to the next group.

"Next. Jet, Droy, Gray, Conell"

"Next. Lucy, Levy, Cana, Juvia,"

"Next. Bisca, Lisanna, Mickey, Kinana"

The teacher continues calling for his students by groups and handing them their small envelopes. Some had already left as they were excited about the resort. Gray silently followed his other roommates, while carrying his heavy bag on his shoulder. Minutes of walking from cottage to cottage, they finally made it to their own cottage. Alzack took his card key from the envelope and opened the door with a swipe. The door made a click sound, and with a twist of the hand knob, the door was pushed open.

The tired students decided to stay and rest for a bit, after deciding who will be sleeping at which bed. Some didn't bother where to sleep, while the others picked what they think is the best spot. There was a knock from the door and Gray, who was sitting near, stood up to check who it was. As soon as he opened the door, a group of females welcomed themselves inside, looking around the bathroom and the closet, and turning on the television.

"What are you guys doing here?" they heard someone asked.

"Mr. Conbolt said that dinner will be ready soon, we already placed our bags in our rooms and decided to tour around" Cana spoke up while switching the channels on the television.

"But that doesn't give you the idea to visit a boy's room" Droy responded, raising his brows.

"Well, we got bored just looking around and decided to see the other rooms too, Right Bisca?" Lucy asked her other friend with a smile.

The boys had given up and let the girls do whatever they want. They were just lounging in their room when the phone suddenly rang.

Cana, who was closer to the phone, picked it up. She then hung up and turned to her friends. "Time for dinner they said," she claimed. The others yawned and some nodded their heads. Some are already out the door, leaving Juvia and Gray inside the room. Once Gray noticed that their friends were already gone, he went back to his bag and opened it to allow the pink-haired doll to get out. Stretching her numb body, she walked around inspecting the room they will be staying in.

There was a loud complaint coming from Natsu's stomach. Turning her attention to Gray, "Gray, is dinner ready yet?" the tiny lass asked.

"It is, so I need you to wait here. While I go and pick up some food, okay?" The doll nodded her head in response while wearing a pout for being asked to hide again. Not wanting to anger the young man she went to hide under the bed, together with the bag.

The man noticed her gloomy expression and formed a tiny smile from his lips. Juvia noticed this smiled sadly as she observed him "On second thought. Juvia, can I ask you a favor?" the man asked her.

"What is it Gray?"

"Can I ask you to tell the teacher that I will be staying in my room to eat instead? Just tell him, my head hurts and I'll just have my dinner in my room. Please?" The man of her love pleaded her for the sake of another girl, averting her eyes to the doll who also asked, looking perky from his words. She let out a sigh and nodded her head.

"Okay, but on one condition."

"Sure, what i-" before the man can finish her question. A soft peck suddenly in contact with his cheeks. The doll let out a loud shout, while the man was left in shock.

"Then, I'll just ask one of the resort's staff to deliver it here then, okay?" The woman smiled while closing the door behind her.

The man faced the doll and placed her on top of the bed. After turning on the television, they decided to watch a funny movie. He was chuckling at that movie every time something funny happened but the man suddenly noticed the silent doll by his side. He placed his attention to her and found her pouting from where she sat, huffing and crossing her arms in front. "What is it Natsu?" the lad asked curiously.

"She kissed you" the doll muttered.

The man fell silent for a while and opened his mouth to speak, "Well she did, but it was just a peck to the cheeks."

"But that was still a kiss"

"I guess" the man answered without care and started to laugh after an adult from the movie fell from the smart kid's trap.

Pissed, the doll jumped towards his chest. Placing her hands on his face, giving him tiny kisses around his face while tinting a red face. "You're not allowed to kiss anyone, but me" the doll ordered.

The man was left surprised after the doll had showered his face with tiny kisses again, "I did not kiss her. She did."

"But you didn't wipe it"

"Huh?!"

"You didn't wipe it, so it means you like it and it means you kissed her"

"Wait, where do you get that idea?"

The doll let out a grunt and turned her back to him, the man scratched the back of his head and sighed, "That's why I don't understand girls." the man huffed. Averting his eyes back at the doll, he placed his hands on her dress. Turning her around to face him, he planted a soft kiss on her cheeks.

"Now, I kissed you. So everything is good, Okay?"

The doll placed her hands on her cheeks, feeling butterflies inside her stomach. "I feel full already," the doll cheered, grabbing his head for a tight hug.

"What, Natsu stop that" the man called out to her, trying to remove her from his face. The sound of the doorbell came and indeed his dinner was placed in a tray. Thanking the staff for delivering his food, the young student closed the door and locked it.

The doll was already eating when the man turned around, he sat beside her and started to eat as well.


	11. Episode 10

It was already morning when the students were asked to prepare themselves for their next tour. Students are already lining up outside, teachers doing a roll call for attendance. It wasn’t too long when they finally went inside to their respective bus and off they went to their next destination, the ‘Tower of Heaven Remnant’. Before they arrived at the tower, a boat was needed for them to get to the tower, as the town is located in the middle of the south sea of Fiore, occupying the Remnant City in the Caelum Kingdom.

Gray held his bag, as he felt the doll hurling inside. ‘We are not even in the boat yet. please bear with it.’ was his thoughts as he placed his hand inside and rubbed her back.

After an hour of driving, the students finally arrive at the port. They started heading towards the boat and waited patiently for them to board. Once they were allowed to come in, Gray immediately started looking for a vacant cubicle to check up on the doll inside his bag. Locking the door promptly, he opened his bag to find the doll with her face dark and blue.

"Gray" the doll cried to the man while covering her mouth with her hands.

The man picked up a medicine inside his bag and cut it in two. Placing them one by one inside her tiny mouth, the doll gulped it down with water. "Gray" the doll cried again in a slurry tone, "I feel sick"

"I know, just bear with it. I heard it will only be a thirty-minute boat ride"

"Really?" the doll asked, losing strength from her body.

"Yes," the lad assured, rubbing the doll's tiny back.

The lad waited for the girl to calm down after he made sure that she was much better. Natsu made herself comfortable back to the bag, lying down to her side in a fetal position with her face still blue. Gray placed the towel carefully around her and closed the zipper to a half. After he was down, he unlocked the door and went outside, only to bump with someone who came running inside and locking the door in haste.

Shrugging off, the lad went back to his friends and sat down after finding them. Juvia sat beside him and inquired about the doll.

"She's here and sick" was his response to her as he opened it slightly for her to peek.

"Want me to take care of her?" she offered to the man while peeking over his phone.

"Huh?! No, I mean. Thanks but I'm fine." the lad assured, placing his phone back to the side pocket of his black bag.

Half an hour passed, and the boat finally arrived at the Remnant's port. Waiting for the boat to connect to the port and waiting for the exit door to open. Minutes later, the students are already outside on the land heading towards the port’s building. Since the town is small, they are only required to walk around town while heading to the tower.

A tour guide was in front of each class, guiding them around as they walked closer to the tower. Without noticing it, the students had already arrived at their destination, as they stared wide-eyed at the tall tower.

"Hey, Hey, Gray" Lucy called out to him.

He glanced towards her to find Lucy, whispering to him. "Didn't Erza and Jellal live in this town before?"

"I guess, they did tell us. They always visit the tower after class when they were in elementary"

"They would be surprised to know that we went to their hometown." Lucy grinned, "Let's take a picture and send it to them". The lad nodded his head and waited for Lucy who was calling their friends for a group picture with the tower as their background.

A tour guide was in the middle of the group of students, calling for their attention as he taught them about the history and the past of the tower. After he was done, they went inside by group and headed their way to the top.

Gray heard a groan from his bag when they went inside the elevator. The other occupants faced the frozen lad, and in reflex, he acted as if he was not feeling well. They finally arrived at the top and Gray instantly started looking for the men’s toilet. He went inside and occupied a vacant cubicle. Opening the bag, to find the doll hurled again and looking lifeless.

"Gray," the doll called out to him.

"Are you well?"

"No" a pause was then placed between them before the doll spoke again, "Did we go inside an elevator?"

"Yeah" the lad responded, opening a bottle of water and handing it to the sitting doll.

Natsu drank from it after giving thanks to the lad. "Anyway. Gray where is this?"

"At the top of the tower. We're now at the top of the Tower of Heaven Remnant"

Natsu had her eyes wide and twinkling, "Cool, show me around. PLEASE?" the doll pleaded but was refused.

"Come on, please? I'll do anything you say, please?"

Gray was holding his words and said 'no', but her eyes looked like a puppy. He took it back and said, "Fine, but you can only take a peek. Got it?"

Natsu cheered and jumped towards the lad. Putting herself back to the bag, Gray carried it on his shoulders and went out. Walking around and making sure no one was looking. Gray grabbed his bag and placed it in his front. Opening the zipper a bit, letting the doll poke her head out.

"We're up so high!" the doll exclaimed, looking at the tiny houses and people on the ground. "Everything looks small" the doll added, facing the lad with a wide smile painted on her face with reddish checks from being sick. Wanting to get a better view, the doll pulled her upper body up and leaned on the bag. Smiling towards the view, she failed to notice the gaze of the man behind her.

There was a sudden call from Alzack that had surprised the two. Natsu immediately went back inside and Gray placed his bag on his shoulder again. "What? Did something happen?" the lad asked curiously to his sweating friend.

"Nothing" was Grays’ response.

"Hmm... The teacher is calling us" the young student told him. Turning his back after being pulled by his green-haired crush.

Gray let out a laugh towards his friend and averted his attention back to his bag, "Are you alright Natsu?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" the doll responded in a curled position. Her head was between her knees and her hands were above her head.

Gray chuckled at her position and closed the bag halfway. He then went back towards his classmates.

"Okay, since we are given forty minutes to stay. You can do whatever you want, but when I call you. I want you to gather up right away, so we can head to our next stop" the teacher explained. Putting his bag behind his back.

Gray was then dragged by his friends, walking around and observing the ground below them. Eating some foods that were sold inside at the top of the floor, and him putting foods inside his bag. Forty minutes passed by then, and Mr. Conbolt had finally called for their attention.

"Okay, class. We will now soon be heading to Galuna Island. Since they only have two elevators, please head down by class. OR you can use the stairs". Macao advised.

"Then, please let your students use them first Mr. Alors"

The young teacher nodded his head in response and guided his students towards the elevators and since his class is composed of thirty students, they need to divide themselves in two. It took them almost half an hour before the others reached the ground and another forty-five minutes on their way back to the boat.

It was already lunchtime when the students got inside the boat. Hungry and tired, they bought some food at the port. Filling their empty stomach until they reach the next island where they will have their lunch.

Gray was sitting beside his roommates when he suddenly felt a kick from his bag. Punching it back the bag fell silent.

"Anyway Gray, you haven't left your bag anywhere have you?" Loke, Lucy's celestial lion asked knowing full well about the reason.

"No reason. Well everyone makes sure their bags are secured right?" the raven-haired pointed out. "Anyway Loke, when did you leave your key? Did Lucy open your key?"

Loke let out a laugh and shook his head in response, "Well, I heard that there will be lots of chicks on the next Island so I'm planning to tour around the area too."

"Hmm? And Lucy is?"

"Well, she was surprised at seeing me out of the key. But to me, Lucy is still the best." The lion blurted on his own.

"I see" Gray let out a sigh.

"LOKE, where are you?" Lucy asked, walking around looking for the lion that got loose.

The lion immediately ran towards Lucy, hugging the petite body of the lass.

"Did you miss me?"

"No, I did not, since I always see your face almost every day." Lucy, who was struggling from his hold, spoke. "Anyway, I heard from Capricorn that the previous holder of your key was from Galuna Island, right?" the young lady asked. The man in suit stilled from her question and nodded his head, "Yes, she was. But she's already dead"

"I know since you're here. Why don't we visit her grave?" Lucy offered.

The man let out a smile and nodded his head in response, "You're really such a good girl Lucy. I promise. I'll always protect you no matter what happens."

"Yeah, yeah. So please return first and I'll call you out when we arrive"

The man let out a disagreeing tone, asking why he needs to go back. Only to receive a reply that he doesn't have a ticket for his ride and without a choice, the man went back inside his key.

"Wasn't Loke's key holder was Karen Lilica from Pegasus private school?" her raven-haired childhood friend asked curiously.

"Yeah, but Karen was from Galuna Island before she enrolled in Pegasus. Is what Capricorn told me, and since we're heading there. Why not visit her grave" she responded with a smile.

"Hmm, but will the teacher agree?"

"No need to worry. I heard the teachers are planning for something fun in Galuna Island. So we have time to ourselves."

"I see"

Gray stood up from his seat and made his way to the toilet after his talk with the blond lass. Sitting in the cubicle, the lad opened his bag. The pink-haired doll was now lying stiff inside the bag with her face turned blue. Her shirt was now dirty from her vomit. Removing her slowly from the bag, he placed her beside the sink. Taking some fresh clothes from the other side zipper, he handed it to her, telling her to change. But the doll remained like a statue where she was laying, now holding her mouth with her hands.

"Come on Natsu. That is the second time you dirtied your clothes. Good thing I bought you extras." He attempted for her to change, but failed as she was hurling to the sink.

"You do it. I'll let you for now" Natsu whispered softly.

"Are you sure?" he asked in confirmation, earning a nod from her. "Fine" was his response as he held her body and took off her clothes. Leaving her on her bathing suit and with her shorts. Gray felt his cheeks start to heat, thinking about the human Natsu instead. A touch to his forehead disturbs his thoughts, seeing that the doll was attempting to punch his head.

"Sorry" the lad softly said. Dressing the doll in a black shirt that fits her body just right.

"Good thing my sister is good with stuff like this." the lad thought to himself while placing her dirty shirt inside a plastic.

Minutes later, the boat finally arrived at the Galuna Islands Port. Students are immediately outside, being greeted by the villagers, and guided to their village. Delicious meats and vegetables are served on a buffet table, chairs being placed in a circle to a table. Female servers, opening the chafing dish, offering clean white plates to their guests for them to use. Their guest was soon lining up at the buffet table, choosing different kinds of delicious and mouth savory meats. The others are already on their table, eating their food with pleasure in their eyes.

Jet and Droy are already up at the dessert table, picking up sweets that they want to taste. Lucy and Levy are up at the fruits table, putting apples and oranges with watermelon on their plate. Cana was in a drinking contest with Mickey and forced Bisca to finish a pitcher of orange juice within a minute. Lisanna and Juvia are on their table, having a conversation, hence the loud noise inside the hall with their loud jokes and such. Gray was left to his own in silence, putting his bag under the table together with the food he had plated.

Hours had passed and the teachers presented to them a game quest, in which they would earn a prize if they won. In the middle of their game, Gray left the hall in silence.

Seeing that the island was small, getting lost would not be possible for him to happen. The lad was walking down the stairs towards the beach, turning his head from his left to right, checking if no one was in sight. Crouching down, the man opened his bag, and out came the doll with a toothpick on her lips.

"After I ate I felt revived, now I feel like playing" the doll spoke to herself with a grin from her face. Turning her head to see the man nodding, informing her she can go out and play. The doll immediately stood up and took off her clothes, making the man behind her feeling his cheeks flush.

‘Why am I feeling like this with a doll?’ Gray thought to himself, taking off his shirt and pants. Joining the doll with his swimming trunks. Sparing a glance at the doll who was now throwing water towards him. The pink-haired tiny manikin was wearing the swimsuit his red-haired friend gave her as a present.

"Gray," the doll shouted towards him, his face wet with water.

"Damn you Natsu, what do you think are you doing?"

"Huh? Why should you get mad? You're in your swimming trunks anyway. What's the harm?" Natsu let out a chuckle and started throwing water towards the man again. The two were then left playing, not realizing the eyes of another presence behind the rocks hiding behind. Gray and Natsu were already lying down on the sand, tired from playing and swimming around.

"Gray you Ice butt, now my arms are red."

"Don't blame me. You decided to play volleyball after you found that ball around."

"It's because you picked up a fight that I end up throwing the ball at you"

"What are you talking about squinty eyes? You're the one who picked up a fight with me, not the other way around"

"What was that droopy eyes? Want to fight?"

"That should be my line muscle freak"

"What was that Ice princess, am I that stronger than you?"

"Really. You can't even help yourself inside a bus or a boat. Shouldn't you be thanking me, Fiery mouth breather"

"What was that Popsicle Princess?"

"Flame Brain"

"Popsicle Breath"

"Flame Breath"

"Perverted Popsicle"

"Tabasco Idiot"

"Shaved Ice Princess"

They were about to continue their fight with their punches and magic when a rustle from the grass made them halt. Natsu immediately ran her way to the bag and his inside, Gray hurriedly took his clothes and wore them on. Picking up his bag, he made his way to hide, but a familiar voice called out to him. Turning his head only to find Lucy with Loke behind her.

"Gray, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously to the lad.

"Nothing. Just walking around the beach. How about you?"

"Loke and I went to visit Karen's grave. We were on our way back when we heard noises coming from here. Was there anyone with you here?"

Gray scratched the back of his head, "Nope, I was walking around on my own" the lad told his friend with a lie.

"Is that so"

The orange-haired male was busy looking at his watch, when he realized the time, "Lucy, I think you should go. It's almost time for you to continue your tour to the shrine"

Lucy let out a gasp and called out to Gray to hurry on his feet, "Now that you mention it. He did say we will be going to a temple before the games and to watch the presentation from the villagers"

"Really? I didn't hear him say that."

"That's because. You were busy putting food under the table" Loke explained to him, knowing the reason for his action.

"Hmm? Why are you putting food under your table?"

Gray raised one of his brows and faced the young lad. Thinking for an answer, Gray opened his mouth to speak. "Well, there was a dog under the table and she looks hungry."

Loke smirked from his response and followed with his answer "I see. so it was a dog”

They were right in time when the teacher had called their attention. Loke already went back to his key, leaving the other two to head towards the crowd. One of their friends asked where they were, but was only answered with a 'call of nature' reason.

The second-year students are separated by class and were then separated by group. Each group will be accompanied by a villager to show them around the temple. In a total of six groups, they were led towards the village with their guide and were then educated about their land.

Upon arriving in front of the temple, they were amazed at how the temple looked so old but was kept clean and maintained. Another group then arrived when the first group went inside.

Gray was grouped with the second group, together with Lucy, Levy, Cana, Juvia, Jet, Droy, Alzack, Bisca, Warren, Lisanna, and Kinana, together with three of his classmates. They went inside the temple to be greeted with drawings with the moon and some writings inside. One student then asked about the weir drawing everywhere inside.

"Actually this Island was known as 'Moon Island' or 'Demon Isle'. It was said from our ancestors that demons lived in this village in the past." Their guide explained, making the listeners gasp in surprise. "But centuries later, the demon started to go extinct. Although I said that, some demons are still living with us in the village"

"WHAT" Lucy shouted from fear, thinking one of them might have talked to her.

"Though, there's no need for you to be scared. This island was known for its friendly demons."

The blonde let out a sigh of relief and continued to listen to the guide.

"But how can you tell that they are demons?" one of the students asked.

"Well, during a full moon. They will take their demon form for a day and after the full moon is gone. They can transform back as a human."

"I see"

The guide then halted his steps as he went and opened the gigantic door. With a slight push, the door was then opened slightly for them to enter. The students followed their guide, only to see the first group talking with their guide.

"This one here is the main hall of the temple. Can you see that big hole above there?" the guide asked, earning a nod from the students.

"Our ancestors used to hold a ceremony here during the full moon. Gathering some Moon drips and sealed them inside that big statue of a moon on that side. Can you see it?" the guide pointed to a well-kept giant size statue of a half-moon. The students followed his index finger and saw a half-moon on the side. "That half-moon over there is what we treat as our Treasure. Our ancestors used to gather the moon drip and fill it up, praying for another healthy and peaceful year after they released it to the village."

After the guide had finished his explanation, he guided the students back outside the temple, when a loud complaint from a stomach came to their ears. Turning their head only to see a blushing red-haired. Laughter was then heard from his group mates.

"What's this Gray? Did your stomach have a hole?" a laughing Cana, laugh at her friend.

"I did not and please stop laughing."

"It's alright Gray. Juvia brought food for you to eat" Juvia offered, placing the chips inside his bag. Knowing the doll was the source.

Gray let out a smile and thanked his friend.

They were about to head out when the guide spoke. "Looks like the buffet was not enough for you" The guide commented not trying to be rude. Placing his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a piece of chocolate and threw it to the blushing lad. The lad then placed it inside his bag, embarrassed because of a certain living doll.

The second-year students were already inside the boat as they made their way back to the Akane beach resort. Natsu was then curled inside the bag after the lad got inside the floating transportation. Hours had then passed. They finally arrived back at the beach resort after another ride from a bus.

It was already Dinner time when Lucy was left inside their cottage, and since it was dinner time and the others are already eating their supper. She left the cottage and locked it when a tiny figure passed her by. Thinking she was just seeing things. She started to feel goosebumps on her skin, making her run in fear towards the dining room.


	12. Episode 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editing this in the middle of the night isn't a good idea. Not at all.

The stars are already shining up above, twinkling their brightness to the world with the moon so round and bright. The sound of the sea whispers in through the salty air. Some of the resort's staff are on their night shift, still working for their shift. A sneeze from a brown-haired staff made her companion worried. In response, she only shrugged it off, saying it was just the wind. Passing by one of their occupied cottages, a blond-haired woman was up. Still awake and trying to get some sleep, but failing.

"This is their entire fault" the woman muttered to herself, sparing a glance to her sleeping roommates.

Last night was a horror night for Lucy. Being forced to listen to their crazy ghost stories and ending up not being able to sleep. She hid inside her covers, remember that one particular story that made her shiver, as it was about a beach resort.

> "Hey, hey Lucy. I think you might really want to hear this" Her brown-haired friend smirked.
> 
> "If it's another ghost story. Then no thank you."
> 
> "Shoot it Cana" Juvia teased. Making Lucy cover herself with her blanket and with her ears.
> 
> The brown-haired lass smiled towards the water-user, nodding her head in response.
> 
> "It was a story about two couples." Cana continued, making the blond to start shivering under her blanket, trying not to listen to her friends. Opening a short view, to find her dear bookworm friend Levy, asleep. Making her feel jealous of seeing her sleeping soundly.
> 
> "The couples went to a beach resort and stayed for an overnight, and the resort that they stayed at is the resort that we are staying at right now" she whispered to her shivering friend.
> 
> "Continue" Juvia responded.
> 
> "Did you notice those two cottages at the very far end from the building? Those gloomy-looking cottages beside each other?" she asked curiously, earning a nod from the water user. "Well, it happened in those two rooms" Juvia widened her eyes from the revelations, eagerly listening to her friend. Cana formed a smirk in her lips when she noticed Lucy crying inside her blanket. "It was already night time and the resort only has two vacant rooms which are those two cottages. But the resort staff tried to. As much as possible not to sell those rooms, for the reason that someone cannot be seen occupying those two cottages."
> 
> "And then?"
> 
> "But the two couples insisted, and without any choice. They let the couples stay at the cottage. One staff guided them to their cottage, but the staff got scared that she left the guests two cottages away from the last two vacants. The four thought they had poor service and without a choice, they went and continued on their own."
> 
> Cana gave a glance to the blue-haired lass in front of her and to the covered girl.
> 
> "The four went inside their separate cottage and were amazed by the interior designs and the furniture inside. One spoke, why they won't sell it but keep it clean. His lover agreed and made himself comfortable on the bed. While the other couple went inside the other room."
> 
> Lucy was now stilled on her blanket with her eyes wide open and her ears failing to unhear her friends' words. Her blanket was pulled out and the blue-haired lass came to her view. "Stop it Juvia." the blond-haired shouted, trying to pull the blanket down but failed.
> 
> Juvia let out a laugh and asked the other to continue.
> 
> "After that, the man went inside the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When his lover suddenly shouted, he went to check up on her and asked what happened, but the woman only pointed to the wall. 'There was a face', was his lover’s response"
> 
> After hearing the story, Lucy averted her gaze to the wall, making sure no face was there.
> 
> "The man faced the wall and walked towards it, but found nothing. Thinking she was just tired, he asked her to sleep but the woman refused and decided to stick herself to her boyfriend. Walking back to the bathroom with his lover in tow, the man finished brushing his teeth. As they were about to lie on their bed, they could hear soft footsteps."
> 
> Seconds pass and they can hear someone walking. Lucy let out a yelp and went back into hiding. Curious, Juvia stood up from her bed and went towards the window. Turning her body to Cana who then nodded in return. Placing her hand on the curtain, glancing around the area.
> 
> Lucy peeked through her blanket and shouted after seeing a figure passing by. The others were shocked by her sudden shout and waited for what the blond would say. "Something passed by"
> 
> Cana and Juvia felt their hairs on their skin stand up. Cana went and stood beside the blue-haired to find the source of her friend's shout. Letting out a sigh, the two went back to their seat.
> 
> "W-what w-was that?" the blond-haired asked in a shiver. Covering her body with her blanket.
> 
> "Nothing, a staff passed by, holding a mop" the blue-haired explained.
> 
> "I bet all you can see was her cap"
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "Anyways. Cana please continue the story" Juvia asked the brown-haired lass.
> 
> "Where were we?"
> 
> "At the footsteps part"
> 
> "Okay" Cana exhaled her breath and continued on her story, "after hearing someone's footsteps, the man stood up and found nothing. Feeling a cold touch on his arm, the man went back to his bed in a hurry. His lover was scared as she wrapped her arms around him. Minutes later, there was silence in their room. Thinking they should go to sleep, the man turned off the lights only to find..."
> 
> Juvia perked up from her words, listening intently on each word that was being said. While the blond hair was having tears in her eyes and trying to muffle the words.
> 
> Cana smirked and continued sharing the story, "...only to find a silhouette of a man carrying a hammer in his hand. The woman shouted due to fear and stared in shock at the window. Her lover immediately stood up and opened the curtain only to find that no one was in sight but the wide-open sea in front of him."
> 
> "The man froze where he stood and went back to the bed. The woman asked what that was, but the man only shook his head, telling him no one was around. The couple tried to get some sleep, but failed due to fear"
> 
> "After that?" the blue-haired asked, still not satisfied with the ending.
> 
> "Well, after that. Morning came and the couple went to the front office. The staff asked how their stay was and responded that someone was in front of their window. The man asked if there was a male staff working on or fixing something that used a hammer while working that night, but the staff responded that only female workers were left having a night shift last night. Soon their friends came out from the cottage and followed them to the front. After talking with each other, they both realized that they experienced the same last night. After that, they immediately planned to check out."
> 
> Lucy was now on her bed, covered with her blanket and shivering under. Trying to ignore and forget the story that she just heard.
> 
> "Once they left the hotel. It was only days later that they found out that a man was killed inside the cottage and a hammer was used on his death. While the other cottage was where the man was held captive before he was killed. The End"

After the story ended, an hour had passed and the two were now sound asleep. Leaving the terrified Lucy trying to get some sleep, but failed. Lucy felt the call of nature and decided to head to the toilet. After she was done, she went back to her bed only to see a figure of what looks like a man and a hammer-like was on his hand was seen standing from her window, feeling her blood turn cold. The blond-haired woman fell on her bed and collapsed.

The sun was already occupying the sky, shining and glistening bright rays through the window of our sleeping students. The others are already up, preparing for the next itinerary of their tour. The others are eating, while some are still sleeping.

Gray's roommate was already up, except for a tired raven-haired man, who was forced to accompany a pink-haired doll to walk outside last night. Since people are now asleep, the doll decided to run around exhausting the raven-haired, hoping that no one will notice. Jet, Droy, and Alzack were already dressed, waiting for the others to dress. The three left for their breakfast, leaving a sleeping Gray on his bed after they saw him looking sick that night.

After closing the door, a pink-haired doll peeked her head under the bed. Standing up, she jumped to the raven-haired man’s bed. Natsu pouted from where she stood, crawling towards the sleeping lad. Sitting near his head, the doll placed her mouth near the man's ears.

"WAKE UP GRAY!" the doll shouted. Gray instantly stood up from the bed, after hearing an ear-piercing voice to his ear.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING NATSU?" the lad shouted back.

"Good, you're awake." the doll replied smiling towards him, "Your friends already left for breakfast, so hurry up and bring me breakfast."

Gray let out a sigh and took his towel and went inside the bathroom, closing the bath curtains only to hear the door opening. Curiously he peeked and found the doll inside. "What are you doing Natsu?" was his calm question towards the doll.

"I want a bath"

"But I am still inside. Take your bath after I am done."

"I want a bath" the pink-haired doll insisted, not listening to his words.

Gray let out a sigh and pulled his towel around his waist, "Fine." Gray picked up a small bucket and filled it with water after he was done. He placed it on top of the lavatory and sat the doll on top. "Here" was his response, making his way back to the bathtub.

The doll let out a satisfied breath and dipped to the small bucket.

After the lad was done, he wiped himself with his towel and wrapped it around his waist. Opening the curtain, only to find the doll naked and standing up. Natsu immediately sat back in the bucket cursing at the lad. Gray just raised one of his eyebrows and responded, "I already saw your body, Flame brain".

Natsu felt her cheeks heat and throw the toothpaste on his face. The two then started to fight, calling each other names.

Gray was finally done dressing when he walked into the dining area, picking up some food, and eating his fill. After he was done, he packed another plate of food and went back to his room in a hurry while trying to avoid other people. The lad went inside and placed the food on top of the table. Letting the doll eat the packed breakfast that he brought.

"Seriously Natsu, you really like to cause so much ruckus, don't you? You even made a promise to obey me" Gray let out a sigh, munching some candy in his mouth. "You better not forget your promise when we get home."

"Yes Sir!" was her timid response.

Lunchtime was already done when Gray was asked to swim with his friends. He nodded his head in agreement, wanting to swim too. Thinking of leaving the doll in the room, but Natsu was already inside his bag together with a towel and sun lotion, she grinned after overhearing their conversation under the bed and now insisting on coming with him.

Releasing a defeated sigh, Gray carried his bag on his shoulders and went with his friends. Hours later, they are already in a secluded area together with Juvia, after the blue-haired lass saw him walk away from the group.

Gray was already out at the sea, swimming around with the pink-haired doll swimming beside him with struggle.

"Gray, you swim too fast" the lass complained.

"That's because I have longer limbs than you"

The couple was having a race when Juvia called them out. Gray then grabbed the doll and swam back to Juvia, asking what she wanted.

"I found leads about Natsu" she smiled cheerily towards the two.

Natsu had her eyes wide with excitement, asking for the details of her findings. Sitting down beside her, the couple had waited for her to speak.

"Actually I used the picture that we found last time, and I had Gajeel to help me out. He just sent me a text message, saying he got a hit with one of the towns we narrowed down. It seems that you used to live at one of the orphan houses in Clover town, called 'Fairy Tail'. Coincidentally it has the same name as our school. It may or may not be a coincidence"

"That means there is a possibility that the principal might know something about you Natsu" Gray had then added, ruffling her hair with his palm.

"Really?"

"Yup"

"So Natsu. Does the town Clover Town ring a bell to you?" the blue-haired lass inquired.

The doll sat and stared, thinking, and trying to remember her past. Letting out a wide nod, remembering her Uncle's house where she used to stay and waited for him. "Igneel and I used to stay in a forest. But then Igneel was missing and didn't return. Weeks later, I think. An old man from the orphan house took us in."

"I see, this Igneel. Is he still missing?"

The pink-haired doll nodded lightly. She was about to move towards Gray, when voices from afar, calling for Gray's name had interrupted their conversation. Gray then grabbed his bag and opened it for the doll to hide. Grabbing their things in haste, Juvia and Gray went out and greeted their friends.

"There you are, we've been looking all over for you" the blond-haired woman exclaimed tiredly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Now Lucy, the two might be busy, we shouldn't have disturbed them" Cana responded.

"We're not. I was just swimming on my own when Juvia came. Right?"

"Yes, though I would be happy if we did something that they shouldn't disrupt us with" came her slutty response to the raven-haired guy. Waving his hand to her, as if to dismiss their conversation. Gray had asked what they came for.

"The others are planning to have a swimming quest for males only and of course, they said prizes will be given to the winner" Levy informed, standing beside her two childhood friends who have hearts towards her.

"Really? Then what's the price?" came Juvia's response, washing her sanded food with the seawater.

"A gift certificate for two days and one night stay in this resort for two persons, two tickets for any movie you want to watch and five boxes of chocolates, and many more."

Feeling that the prizes weren't good enough, Gray decided not to join. But the doll heard the word 'Chocolates' and she immediately gave a nudge from his bag, making him wince from the pain after being hit with her tiny elbow. Excusing himself from the group, he opened his bag and a pink-haired head of the doll came out.

"Gray, I want those Chocolates."

"Huh? You were listening?"

She nodded excitedly in response, followed by her puppy eyes as she pleaded for him to join, "I want those Chocolates, Please, Please, Please?" the doll requested.

Gray remained silent for a while staring at her black glassy eyes, his face started to feel warm after seeing her begging look shooting at him. Defeated from her puppy look. He opened his mouth and spoke, "Fine. But stay hidden and don't you dare come out from this bag. Got it?"

Smiling widely towards the lad with her head facing upwards, towards him. Giggling like a child, happy to be spoiled. She nodded her head in agreement and went back inside. Trying to control her chuckles, excited to have the chocolates melting in her mouth.

Gray formed a small smile on his lips, still hearing her chuckles from the bag. Closing his bag halfway with care, he started to head back to his friends planning to ask where to join. However, someone called him out as he was walking back

"What are you doing Gray?" a call from a pony-tailed lad, being followed by the plant magic-user.

In reflex, Gray hid his bag behind him. Making the two curious about what he was trying to hide. Jet and Droy were about to reach for his bag when the girls called them. Relief washed over Gray as he followed his friends behind.

Lining up in the registration, Gray could see Jet and Droy looking excited. Loke, who was asked by his master to join after being given approval from the teachers. Cana was different, she had forced herself in the race after she blackmailed her teacher.

An hour before the race will start, Gray was left stretching his muscles with the other participants. Juvia then came by his side, asking if he needed someone to carry his bag. Knowing that only Juvia and Loke knew about Natsu, he nodded his head in agreement and left his bag to her, after inserting a paper inside.

Minutes later, a loud tweet from a whistle had them perked up, calling them to gather as the race would start. With a total of ten participants, with Gray, Loke, Jet, and Droy. Alzack had also joined, planning to look cool in front of a certain green-haired lass. Another four students from different classes and the only female who forced her way to join.

The youngest teacher had then explained to them the rules, telling them where they should swim and what they should do. Wearing only swimming trunks and a white shirt with a cap to his head and whistle around his neck. He then opened his mouth to speak. "As simple as this sound. NO CHEATING."

"All you need to do is swim toward the back part of that small island" Max explained while pointing his finger towards the island in front of them.

"After that, you need to get on the land and take some things that we had left there. Of course, it won’t be easy for you to get them, but will you be able to find them? Once you find it. You need to head to the woman on the other side of the Island" He explained, as he waved his mirror to a woman in front and the lady did the same.

"And ask for a water bag, where you can secure it inside. After that, you can swim back and give the bag to one of the judges. By The Way, Magic is forbidden for you to use. Once you use it you will be disqualified from the game. Lastly, even if you finish the race first, the winner will be based on the item that you brought back"

The participants had then remained silent, preparing themselves for a long swim while listening to their teacher.

"Also, you need to wear this wristband. So we can know who cheated and used Magic." He explained, handing them their wrist band on their hands. One participant had put it on, and as an experiment used his magic. He hurriedly tried to take it off when he felt a pinch on his wrist. However, he fell to the ground due to being electrocuted.

"A word of warning: Don't try to take those off until the end of the game. Or you will end up like that”

Some students started to laugh, after seeing one of them fall even before the race could start.

"You should have warned me beforehand" the electrocuted player complained, trying to stand on his feet.

Asking the students to line up, Max had then placed his whistle to his mouth and blew through it. The applicants then started to run towards the sea, swimming their way to their destination.


	13. Episode 12

"Participants. GATHER UP!" a teacher called out at them lining up facing the sea. Standing in their position, they waited for the whistle blow. Seconds later the tune from the whistle had them run as they started to swim towards the island in front of them.

Juvia was standing beside her friends, watching the screen that was provided for them to watch. She felt a nudge coming from the raven-haired man's bag, averting her eyes to the bag, only to find the doll's eyes peeking towards her. Juvia excused herself from the others with a lie as she made way to a secluded area, where people wouldn't gather around.

Opening it a little, to find the doll in a squatting position with her eyes full of excitement with her lips in a wide smile. "Did Gray win?" The doll asked curiously, waiting for her reply. Juvia released a chuckle from her throat, feeling like she was talking to a child. She shakes her head in response and tells the doll to be patient. The doll pouted but obeyed her words, holding the paper on her arms, she waited for her lover to come back and gave her the prize.

Juvia then noticed her expression, ‘So, that's why Gray decided to join’ were her thoughts before asking the doll if she wanted to watch. With a big nod from the doll, Juvia went back to the viewing site and opened the bag slightly to allow the doll to watch while covering a towel on top of her head.

Black orbs are gazing widely at the screen, a smile formed on her lips after finding her raven-haired man swimming with his might, as he swam towards the island.

Ahead of the participants was Jet, as he was the fastest even without his magic. Cana was seen following behind him. With her eyes already set on her goal, "As if I would lose to you" came her shout to the lad in front of her.

Gray was seen following from behind. Not really caring if he gets the prizes or not, but losing on a race is a different matter. Seconds later, they could see a raven-haired man with black colored eyes, swimming beside him. Attempting to outrace the ice mage user. But then, Loke had come between them, trying to get ahead from the two raven haired lads. Droy was then behind, trying to catch up with the other participants ahead of him, followed by the others.

They were now a few meters away from the island, once they got closer, they started to run to the backside of the island. As the fastest of the group, Jet was the first to get on land. Running inside a group of trees, looking for the item their teacher had told them. Looking around, that was then he realized they had forgotten to ask what they will be looking for.

The next one to arrive was Cana, followed by Loke and then came Gray and Alzack, who was trying to catch some air. Wondering why they are standing around, Gray had asked the other racers but they themselves are confused as well. Seconds later, his brows were furrowed as he sat. Thinking about what they are looking for.

"Come on Loke, think, think, think" were the mantra coming from Lucy, cheering on her celestial friend to find the item.

"Looks like this will take longer than expected." came another voice from Levy, placing her palms on her cheeks.

"Looks like it. But why did the teacher didn't tell them?"Juvia asked curiously, sighing in front of the screen. She started to get worried when she suddenly heard mutters coming off from the bag that she was carrying. Hearing the doll, whispering Gray's name repeatedly from her tiny mouth. "Don't you dare lose, you Ice butted droopy eyes" or so Juvia thought.

It took them almost half an hour if Gray had not stood up and walked around, saying they will find nothing if they will continue to sit. Walking around the forest separately, while some walked in groups. The other participants had made their way in front but still hadn't found what they were looking for.

The raven-haired man was then left alone, as he went to the trees but found nothing. He tried to swim around the island, to search for clues but found nothing. Walking towards the land, Gray had sat and lied down, thinking about what they should find.

Losing hope in finding the item, Gray sat up. Just then another island had come to his view. Staring towards the land in front, something weird had caught his attention. Curious, the lad swam towards the other island.

Loke, who was walking by the sea, saw the raven-haired man swimming towards the other island. Having thought that Gray might have given up and decided to enjoy a swim. He continued on his way back but halted when the man had stopped in the middle with his hands raised as if to break something in front.

His curiosity got piqued, thinking it might lead them to some clues. The orange-haired man had then decided to swim towards the man. Calling out, but his call was gone unheard when Gray had dipped himself. Confused, the man continued to swim where Gray was and that was when he noticed something. Placing his hand in front, to feel something cold like a mirror. With a smirk, the lion had dipped himself, looking for the item.

Minutes later, they both came out from the water with something in their hands. Walking towards the land, the two tried to gain back their breathing. Opening their hands to find the item engraved with a fairy tail logo. Soon, Alzack and Cana had come to see what's on their hands.

Looking to where they came from, they saw another island in front. That was then, something had caught their eyes. Gray stood up from where he lay and started to run towards the front of the island with Loke following him behind.

Jet and Droy came to their view, as they continued to run. With suspicions that they had got what they were looking for, the boys had gone to where they left and saw Alzack in the middle of the sea, making his way back to the land following Cana who was ahead of him. While they were on their way to the middle, another two participants had already passed them by with the item on their hands, while the other two were still looking around for it.

"Go for it Loke, Gray might be your friend. But don't let him win" the blond-haired woman cheered to the screen.

"This is bad, Jet and Droy are left behind" a worried Levy muttered.

"Go for it Gray, kick that lion's ass" The blue-haired lass cheered, having an eye fight with Lucy.

Natsu was still inside the bag, now cheering silently for the raven-haired man. With her hands clasped together, she hugged the paper to her chest, praying for him to win for chocolates.

"EXCUSE ME, I NEED A BAG PLEASE" came the loud voices from the two running men.

The lass wearing a shirt and short shorts was smiling towards them, as she handed a stamp towards them instead of a bag. Opening her mouth, she spoke. "But first, I need to give your item a stamp".

The two lads had then obeyed, waiting for her to finish. Feeling another presence from behind them, they saw Alzack and Cana running their way towards them.

The lass in front of them had finally handed them their tiny bags. Taking it in a hurry, they placed the bead inside and tied it securely, allowing the tiny bag to hang around their necks. The two started to swim towards the finish line.

Loud cheers had then gathered the hall, as the race was now about to end. The one leading the race were Gray and Leo, and came next was Cana, followed by Alzack. But Jet was almost reaching the four participants, swimming as fast as he could.

Jet was already behind Gray and Loke when the cheers suddenly got even louder. Betting on who will win the race. Lucy and Levy are now cheering loudly for their friends. Hoping their bets will win the race. Juvia was now hugging the bag to her chest, making it harder for the doll to breathe.

The screens had then automatically turned off, as the students hurried their way outside. Waiting for the winner to reach the goal. Natsu opened the zipper a bit wide and peeked through it after Juvia had let her go from the tight hug. It was then that she saw Gray swimming beside Jet and Loke trying his best to reach their goal.

Her cheeks had suddenly felt warm, thinking the man was doing this for her. Her heart started to beat louder as she stared at his face, swimming as fast as he could.

Only a meter away and the participants started to reach the goal. Cheers erupted as they cheered for the players. Soon the judges had observed the items they bought back and deemed the winner a few minutes later after deep observation.

"Too bad you didn't win. But it's okay. At least you got the second prize instead." Levy had come cheering her two childhood friends from losing.

"That's right Jet. At least you got a free ticket to a movie for two. Me? I only got this" Droy cried, showing them the key chain from the beach's store as his consolation prize.

"Now, now, don't cry Droy. Jet and you can watch the movie right? Since it's for two" Were her words that made the two cried louder, leaving her confused.

The brown-haired woman remained sulking but continued drinking on her glass. Feeling refreshed after long hours of swimming, while wearing the shirt as her prize.

Some of the four students won a souvenir from the beach as their prize instead, while one of them won a shirt. Alzack was disappointed, but since the green-haired lass liked the keychain he won, his heart had started to cheer up.

"Thanks a lot, Loke!" Lucy had beamed to her friend, giving him a hug.

"Sure. No problem Lucy, anything just for you. Too bad I didn’t get the chocolates you wanted. Do you want me to buy some for you instead?"

"Thanks for the offer, but this is enough. This way, Mama and Papa can have their date. Won't you agree?" The lass smiled, placing the certificates on her bag, securing it inside.

"Yes indeed" the lion responded, as he started to vanish in front of her.

"See you later Loke." the blond-haired woman smiled, waving her hand in front.

A raven-haired man was walking away from the crowd after he had taken his bag from Juvia and gave her the free pass to their recreational activities that he won. Opening the door of the cottage he was staying, Gray went inside and locked the door. Opening the bag, to find the lass already munching on a bar.

With a laugh, the man lied down to his bed. Tired from the race he participated.

"Gray? Want some?" the doll asked curiously, as she walked towards him with the bitten chocolate on her hand. Seeing that the man didn't move, but he nodded his head in response. She placed the chocolate near his mouth and waited for him to bite.

The raven-haired man took a bite and gulped it down. "Sweet" the lad commented, sitting up from his bed.

"Duh, it's chocolate. Of course, it's sweet" The doll responded, getting another bite of chocolates.

Releasing a sigh, the man didn't notice the way himself smiling towards the doll. Natsu looked up from where she sat as she finished the last bite. Seeing her fingers dirty, the doll gave it a lick.

"That's Dirty" the lad commented. Taking out a tissue from the bedside table, as he took her tiny hands and wiped it clean. Natsu flashed him a smile and thanked him with her cheeks turning red and chocolates around her lips. Realizing what he was doing to her, he let go of her hands and gave her the tissue to continue wiping her hands. Natsu was left puzzled from his sudden reaction after Gray had entered the bathroom.

"What was I doing?" the lad thought to himself, washing his face and wiping it clean. "And anyway, why did I even bother to join the race?" he asked himself, exhaling. Gathering himself again before he went out of the bathroom. Gray was surprised to find the doll in a different outfit.

Natsu saw the man out from the bathroom door, she walked towards him and opened her mouth to speak. "Hey, hey, Gray, Give this to your Mother" the lass offered, handing him a box of chocolate from her hands. Picking it up, he wondered why.

"Because you're Mother's so kind" the doll explained. Making her way back to the other three chocolates and placed the other two back inside the bag. "And this one. We share." The doll beamed, opening the box and splitting it into two as she gave half to him.

The man took it on his hands and turned on the television, eating a piece of chocolate while watching TV shows.

"Thanks, Gray" the doll muttered after eating the last piece in her mouth. Giving him a chaste kiss on his checks, she heads to the bathroom.

The man placed his hands on his cheek, still feeling the lingering sensation from her tiny lips. Releasing a chuckle, the man continued to watch from the show while munching the chocolates with delight.

A knock from the door had surprised him, he immediately went inside the bathroom with a bag on his hands, telling the doll to get in. He went back to his bed and placed the bag slowly to the ground. Seconds later, the door was unlocked and Jet and Droy arrived with Alzack behind them.

"Lucky for Lucy, Loke won the first prize" Jet muttered.

"Don't say that. You won movie tickets for any shows right?"

"I guess, but I was eyeing the first prize"

"Too bad. But anyway, we did have fun, right?" Alzack added, lying down on his bed.

"Hmm, but I thought you were showing off to your lover?" Gray had asked, sitting back to where he sat while watching the TV.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Bisca and I are not like that"

"For now" Droy added.

Tired and sleepy, the boys were about to sleep after hours of resting. When the phone suddenly rang telling them that dinner was ready. Leaving their cottage locked, the four boys went to the dining hall to eat.

"Hey, hey did you hear? The teachers are planning to have a ghost hunt tonight" the brown-haired chatted to Lucy, who was now already scared, just hearing the word Ghost.

"Really? That should be exciting" Juvia added. Sitting beside someone who she used to call as her 'Rival in love'. The lads passed them by and heard their conversation. Sitting down to the empty chairs, they then started to ask for details.

"Mr. Wakaba told us to gather around at seven in the lobby. They said we will be going out for another activity."

"sure" Gray responded as he left in a hurry, leaving his friends behind in confusion.

"Is he scared?" Lucy asked, hoping she was not alone.

"I don't think so" was Juvia's response as she continued to eat from her plate.

Opening the door and closing it behind. Gray then handed the packed dinner to the doll, who excitedly ate the food with delight.

"Natsu, the teacher told us that we will be going out tonight. So tonight, you will be staying here. Got it?" the raven-haired lad warned, turning on the television to watch.

The doll wanted to say 'No' but changed her mind after the raven-haired man raised one of his brows. "Aye Sir!" was her response, eating the food with a pout. After she was done, she placed the empty disposable plates in the trash and made her way towards the lad, sitting between his legs to watch the show.

The door was suddenly unlocked and Natsu instantly ran to hide in the bag.

Loud voices came in and were then greeted by his group of friends inside the room. Telling him they should get ready for the activity. Wearing a blue shirt with pants, paired with a hooded jacket, he patted his shirt and took out a piece of paper from the table. The man placed the bag near his bed and left another paper inside. After he had left, the doll was left pouting inside the bag while reading on the paper.

"Don't you dare go out and leave the cottage" she read out loud, throwing it back inside the bag. Picking up the first paper that Gray had thrown in, she started to read it again. "I'll win it just for you, so behave and wait for me" Giggles had left her mouth as she reread the words repeatedly.


	14. Episode 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another storytelling in this chapter and the ghost story that I used this time was a reference from an old story that I read before. I can't remember the exact story actually, but it went what it is written bellow as far as I could remember. Also, her name is not really Lucy. Just wanted to write a scared Lucy.

They were already in the lobby, waiting for the others to arrive. A brown-haired woman was sporting a smirk as she placed her arm around Lucy's shoulder. "This looks exciting, don't you agree Lucy?"

"Yeah" was her response, her fears evident in her voice, dressed in a blue jacket and shorts.

"Seriously, it's not starting yet and you're already scared" Juvia stated, wearing a blue skirt with a white coat.

"Speaking of Lucy, I read a story about that mysterious doll. If I remember it correctly, it happened here and her name was also Lucy" An orange-haired man spoke, sitting beside Levy.

"Eh? What is it?"

"Well, It was about a child who died mysteriously” Jet earned some eager nods from his friends, showing him their excitement about the child.

“It all started on her seventh birthday when a package arrived at her home with her name written on the wrapper." Jet replied, receiving a loud wail from the scared woman. But continued the story after Cana had gestured to him.

"It was morning when her Mother found the package in front of their house, and thought it must be from a friend of her daughter and decided to give it to her. Her daughter, excited from opening her birthday gifts, decided to open the wrapped present that her mother handed to her. She removed the gift's wrap and the child got horrified to find an ugly doll. The doll was bald. its skin was cracked and wrapped with dirt. But the scariest thing was, its teeth were sharp and pointy, like a wolf's teeth"

Gazing his eyes to his listeners, the man continued on his story. "Scared by the appearance of the doll, Lucy threw the doll to the ground, away from her."

"Jet, don't use my name" Lucy had begged, hugging her knees from fear.

"Hmm? But as I told you, her name was Lucy. The same name as yours"

"No way, use another name"

"Anyways, continue it Jet" his childhood friend Droy had asked.

With a nod, the man continued to share the story "The child was terrified, she asked her Mother to throw it away. But her mother scolded her for throwing an Antic doll and for attempting to throw it in the trash while reprimanding her that someone went to great lengths just to give her an antic doll as a gift and she should be happy for it. The parents didn't know what to do, as the child was crying loudly, asking them to put it away. Without any choices, the Mother had placed the antic doll inside a shoebox and placed it in the attic. And that's when everything had started to fall"

"What do you mean?" he heard someone asked.

"Every night, Little Lucy would wake up, hearing voices and small footsteps. The first day was a muffled voice and a soft thud. Scared, she went towards her Mother's room, asking them to allow her to sleep beside them. The second day the muffled voice can now be heard loudly as if whispering to her ears.  _ 'Lucy, I am on the first step' _ were words that she heard, as she hid inside her blanket. Terrified from the soft and tiny voice"

Lucy had now started to shiver from fear, trying not to listen from the group. Gray was sitting beside Levy, listening curiously to the storyteller. Cana and Juvia are sitting both sides with Lucy in the center. Holding her from trying to get away.

"After that night, Little Lucy had told her parents to come with her to the attic and since the little girl has been complaining about scary stuff from the attic. Heading towards the attic to find the doll exactly where they had left them. It was then on the third day that Lucy heard a loud thud from the ground and another voice had followed in a slurry tone,  _ 'Lucy, I am on the Second Step'. _ Soon, the loud thud and giggles were gone, leaving the child terrified and weeping on her bed."

"She had then told her parents about the past nights, but her parents wouldn't believe her. Saying she was just tired and sleepy. She had then begged her Mother again to throw the doll away, stating everything started after they received the doll. But her mother wouldn't listen. On the fourth day, the noise from the stairs had gotten louder and another voice had then followed, telling her she was now on the fourth step. The child had her eyes widen, expecting the voice to tell her that she was on the third step.  _ 'Lucy I am on the fourth step _ ' was the voice that she heard again. Hiding her tiny body in her covers. The child whispered ' _ I am sorry _ ' repeatedly as she closed her eyes and prayed."

It was then. Lucy had started to cover her eyes and closed her ears. Not listening to her friends, she tried to run away but the hold on her wrist from Cana and Juvia, failed her to do what she wished.

"The fifth night was terrible, as the loud footsteps started to get louder and louder. The tiny voice had started to play with her mind, leaving her restless and tired from not getting enough sleep and paranoid. The morning after the fifth night. Lucy had told her classmates and friends. But no one would believe and they would just laugh at her. Remembering it was the fifth night, there are only two steps left. She had then begged her Mother again to let her sleep on their bed. The Mother released a sigh as she allowed her daughter to sleep with them. But tomorrow she will have to go to sleep on her own bed alone."

A call from their teacher had suddenly interrupted them. Asking if everyone was present, Mr. Macao released a sigh after checking some students are still not around. Especially some of his students. Levy had then asked him to continue as she listened eagerly to his story, making him flush from seeing her cute begging face.

"Lucky for her. Her mother allowed her to sleep with them, and so that night she got a restful sleep. The next morning she woke up and felt refreshed."

"The next night as she was sleeping alone in her room. She could hear a voice that came like a whisper to her ears as if the voice was beside her. Telling her,  _ 'Lucy I am at your door'  _ the tiny voice called. Knowing that she locked the door but the loud banging and giggling behind her door made her cry in despair and terrified."

"What happened? Is that all?" Cana called with disappointment.

"Nope. The next morning came and the mother saw her daughter laying down the stairs with her neck twisting and blood dripping from her tiny mouth and eyes wide in fear. The Mother had cried, kneeling beside her daughter. That's when she noticed antic doll, as it was sitting beside her daughter's dead body"

Jet could hear gasps and see shock faces, after hearing what happened to the little girl.

"The burial did happen days later and do you know what's even more depressing?"

"What?" Levy asked curiously.

"She buried her daughter with the doll beside her. Telling the others that she loved that doll very much and they would be together now and forever. Were her words before she left where her daughter was buried with her face emotionless and her eyes are pure black."

"Scary. I don't think I'll be able to sleep with the stairs inside my house for now." Juvia commented, stretching her body.

"Luckily, we don't have stairs," Cana added, smiling after she heard some good scary stuff. "What left you thinking Gray?" she asked the man sitting beside her. Noticing her serious expression.

"Somehow that story seems kinda bit familiar, I think I've read about it from a newspaper"

"Now that you mentioned it. There was news about a little girl who fell down the stairs, with her body twisted and bleeding. It was so crazy that the news had then scattered around. Thinking she was murdered by someone and the killer is still on the loose" another black-haired man added, wearing his poncho with tasseled edges together with a shirt and torn pants with strips.

"I read that news weeks ago, and it was said, it happened here in Akane Town. Though it was not written where it exactly happened. Usually, wouldn't they write it on the news? Unless it is somewhere where they don't want anyone to know about the place?"

"Look, look, the teacher is calling us. Hurry let's go, let's go!" Lucy exclaimed loudly. Still scared of the story while pulling Cana up from her seat.

"Seriously, why are you scared of that? You owned a doll before right?"

"I did. But Michelle is different. She's special"

"Is everyone here?" Their dark blue-haired teacher had called, standing in front of the students. Earning a loud 'no', the older man continued to speak.

"Today, as you have already known. We will be having a Ghost hunting activity, and we will be having that activity at the old cemetery, here at Akane town which is just a walking distance away from this beach resort."

Lucy had her eyes wide, some students started to feel chills, from thinking that an old cemetery was just near the resort they are staying at.

"What we are going to do is. We will go by groups of four and when you reach the cemetery, you need to walk till you reach the small church at the middle end and each of you will take some small badges that we left this morning. Of course, after the event, a banquet will be served to you the next day and prices will be given."

"Can't we just have the banquet after this activity?" a chubby student asked, followed by Droy.

"Unfortunately no, we already had it scheduled. But you'll receive your prices after this event." The students made a disagreeing noise as he continued to speak the rules, "Okay, now that's done. Your groupmates will be your roommates. So enjoy and have fun." The teacher bid as he had informed the first group to head to their destination.

It was already Gray's group that came from their teacher's call. Signing them to head to the old cemetery after handing them their map and a single flashlight. Turning to their left after they had exited the resort, the boys had gone straight to the cemetery after another turn to their right. The boys had finally arrived when another teacher had come and greeted them, after telling them what to do in case of emergency or if they gave up, the four lads had disappeared from the teacher's eyes.

Entering the cemetery was not scary for the four lads, except for the girls that went ahead of them, hearing them shout and using their magic from fear. Chuckling a bit, they took enjoyment from the hilarious squeal that the girls had released. But a sudden appearance from a white shadow had them halted their steps.

Their hairs from their skin had stood as they felt the cold air. Hurrying on their steps. They made sure that they followed their map correctly. Turning to their right, to find a statue of a man, standing at an empty grave. Staring curiously as they passed, they felt as if the statue had stared back at their eyes. Gray held tight on the flashlight as he moved it around. When he suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Fishing it out from his pocket, he opened it casually, and with eyes wide from what he just read, Gray had run after one of his friends tripped and shouted due to the fall. Annoyed about a certain doll, he just up and left his friends on their own as he made a straight dash to the woods.

Droy was the one who fell down, as he felt something had tripped him down. Turning to the source, to find that nothing visible had tripped him. Standing up, he saw his friend Jet and Alzack made a shout towards Gray, as the man had left with nothing but a flashlight in his hand.

"Where's Gray?" came his question to his group, who only responded with a shook from their heads, as they had followed the Raven haired lad's trail.

A pink-haired doll was watching a movie on the television, as she had gotten bored from waiting. Turning it into another channel, to find the shows boring. Turning off the machine as she stood up and went to the table. Taking water from the pitcher, she filled the cup with water. Spilling some clear water on the table, as the pitcher was almost half her body size. Taking the cup filled water, she chugged it down with a satisfied sigh released from her mouth.

Footsteps had passed by the room, as she listened to the word that has been told. Tilting the curtains lightly, she peaked and saw two men talking about students. A blue-haired man had then said that all the students are already at the cemetery while earning a nod from his companion. They made their way to the cemetery as well, to wait for their students to come.

Natsu had her ears perked up and her eyes had bloomed, hearing that Gray and his friends were having a test of courage activity at the cemetery. The doll can't help and disobey Gray's order.

Checking that no one was around, she opened the door and exited the cottage. Running towards the entrance of the resort as the doll had seen the blue-haired teacher and his companion again. Following the teacher secretly while they made their way on foot to the cemetery. Another teacher had then come and greeted his co-workers, telling them about the progress, as they watched some students who were done, carefully holding an orb-like ball that they had borrowed from the resort. Making their way to the finish line, where the prizes are lined.

After the teachers had left, Natsu entered the cemetery with delight. Excited to surprise and scare the students that she will pass by. Lighting her hand with her Fire magic, the doll walked straight to where she could hear voices from afar. She could hear a familiar voice, as she walked slowly with a smile. Her attention was then placed to the voice as she knew who owned the cute and piercing shouts. With a smirk, Natsu followed the loudest shout that she could hear. Running around as fast as she can, Natsu finally reached the source of the loud shout.

A blond-haired woman was clinging to one of her friends as she shouted after seeing a rat passing them by. Holding Cana's arm as she cried.

Smirking from her view, the doll decided to play a prank. Creating fire with her hands, and made it bigger to make it have a stronger light. Slowly, the doll had walked towards them, while using her fire as her light.

Lucy released a loud shout as she saw fire floating in the sky, hugging her friend with all her strength. Cana had to bear and tried to breathe. Levy had screamed as well after seeing the floating fire and immediately hid behind Cana. Closing her eyes as she started to feel the fear with the floating fire, hearing the sudden scream from Levy had her screamed in reflex. Juvia had raised her left eyebrow as she saw something pink floating with the fire, she felt her sweat drop from her head, as she saw the source of the fire.

Using her Water magic she died the floating fire out. Natsu had then hidden behind a stone, as her fire had soon died. Pouting towards Juvia as she used her water magic on her. As the girls had left her alone, Natsu had followed them from behind. Showing repeatedly towards the blond woman, she wanted to hear her scream alone.

Cana had then faced Juvia, as she saw a glimpse of a doll-like with short pink hair. Using her Magic card on Natsu, she placed a trap from where she saw the doll hid. Waiting for the doll to appear, they continued to stand and acted as if they didn't see her. Natsu was hiding behind a tree, as she used her Fire breath on Lucy again. Releasing a chuckle as she heard the blond woman screamed again. Trying to get closer, she failed to notice a card trap under her foot. The magic was then activated and she was then bound by her hands and was inside a cage. Juvia was surprised to hear a shout, turning her head to find the doll trapped and bounded inside the cage. She turned her head to Cana, who was wearing a smirk. Lucy had continued to hide as she peaked towards the captured being inside. Fixing her gaze to the pink-haired doll, to find Gray's doll inside.

Lucy had then got the courage to walk closer to the doll, as she observed her carefully, not minding the loud shouts and demands to get away from the doll.

"You're Gray's doll, aren't you?” she asked curiously. Her fear is now gone, as she leaned closer to the doll. "As I thought. You can really move" she exclaimed, feeling pissed for realizing how an idiot she had been from being played at. The doll had only released a chuckle and was then being thrown in the air as punishment, by an annoyed Lucy. With eyes spinning and on the verge of vomiting. The doll called out to Juvia for help, as the blond-haired lass had imposed her revenge, making Natsu dizzy and sick.

Juvia had shaken her head as she watched Natsu being played by Levy and Lucy, Cana had only watched as she was surprised that what she saw was real and what the rumors were true. Taking her phone out from her pocket, she dialed Gray's number and sent a mail to his phone.

A raven-haired man was running in haste, after receiving a mail from Cana. Sliding his phone with his thumb to open, to find a newly sent message from her. Tapping his finger to the mail, to read the news. It was a coincidence when Gray had run in haste as Droy had fallen to the ground, hearing his friends' call to him, but he ignored as he had other top priorities to do.

It was already too late though when Gray arrived and saw Natsu bound inside the cage and feeling sick. Walking towards the group, Gray took the cage from Lucy's hand and scolded the doll inside.

"NATSU, you better explain why you are here." the raven-haired man scolded the sick doll. Opening the cage, Gray had pulled Natsu from the inside of the cage. Immediately, the cage was gone with a puff when her means of use was done. Turning back into a card, the cage had returned back in Cana's hands.

"Wow, I really didn't believe that you own the Bloody Princess Gray, and it looks like the rumors are true" The brown-haired lass commented, patting the sick doll from his arms.

"Yeah, I guess. And I am sorry for her mischief" The raven-haired man apologized, shifting his hold on Natsu as if carrying her like a child.


	15. Episode 14

There was a knock from the door that had Gray and his roommates awake. Standing up from his bed, he peeked from the door peephole to find nothing outside. Raising his brow, wondering who it was making a prank early in the morning. An eye of a doll had come peeking back. Gray shouted in surprise and fell on his butt, Making the others stand and surprised. Standing back up, he opened the door to find their blue-haired teacher grinning widely at his students.

"Come on, come on. Today is the last day. You have half a day left to tour around the city" Macao had greeted as he left with a bag in his hands, where he placed the head of the doll back. The same thing happened to others, as their teacher had knocked on some of his students' doors and hung the fired eyeball on a fishing rod in front of the peeping hole. Another shout had greeted their ears.

"What a disturbing way to wake his students up" Droy called as he saw his teacher, threw something black inside the cottage through the window. He then closed the door as another set of screams had erupted.

Alzack was already dressed and ready with his bags, as he placed them on top of his bed. Turning the Television on as he waits for the others to be done. Jet was already inside the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Except for Gray, who lied back on his bed and gazed at the TV screen.

"Hey Gray, you should hurry and prepare your things. Don't you want to tour the city before we leave?" Droy had asked, packing his stuff back inside his bag.

"Done that and ready" was his lazy response.

"When?"

"Yesterday?"

"Is that so"

"Anyways. Hurry and get dressed" Jet reminded him while picking up his clothes and dumping them inside his bag.

Gray had finally stood from his bed, grabbing his change of clothes, and wore it. Putting his worn clothes inside the bag, he zipped it up and placed it on top of his bed. Grabbing the other bag under his bed. He took it out and peeked inside. Natsu was still fast asleep inside the bag, embracing her white towel in her sleep.

A smile formed his lips, standing up and putting the bag strap on his shoulder. He exited the room and waited for some of his friends outside.

Reaching the dining hall, they saw Lucy and the others having their breakfast. They sat at the opposite table, as the other guys were there. It was already eight in the morning when Lucy and Levy had suggested roaming around the town. With permission from their teacher, they left together with the guys.

A pair of brown eyes were then staring towards the raven-haired man, placing his hand inside his bag, while muttering words from his mouth.

"Hey, Gray. Why don't we carry Natsu for you" Cana offered, watching her friend talking to the doll inside his bag "You would look normal than talking inside your bag"

Natsu had her eyes perked, shouting with joy, and agreeing with her offer. But Gray had thought about it as he peeked at the blond lass, wondering if she's still scared of Natsu.

"Well, how about if we carry Natsu with us. That way it won't be much creepier and weirder, Right?" Lucy suggested.

Earning words of approval from her friends. Gray nodded his head and took Natsu out from the bag. Smiling her way towards the blond woman, Natsu had walked towards her.

"What a cute doll" some students who passed by commented, as they saw Natsu walking like a robot on her own. Lucy had turned and smiled at the girls.

"Aren't I right?"

"Hmm, so the rumors were really true" Alzack spoke observing the moving doll, Natsu had turned her head as she stared at the man. Raising her brows, she spoke in curiosity. "What rumors?"

"That you can speak and move" Bisca responded, watching Natsu sit on Lucy's lap.

"Ohh"

"Anyways shouldn't we get going?" The brown-haired woman advised, standing up from her chair. The others soon followed as they left the resort and visited some small shops and some malls. They ate and bought souvenirs for their friends and family. Taking pictures and videos, as they tried to capture their enjoyment of their tour. Natsu was allowed to do what she wanted as long as it was unseen by the others, talking and eating as she enjoyed her day with her new friends.

Two hours passed after they roamed around. Jet and Droy decide to buy some stuff before they leave. Bisca and Alzack are already gone when they turn their heads, leaving Gray the only man in the group.

Last night was not really the worst night for Gray and Natsu, as the guys had already known about his secret, about him bringing his doll on their class tour. Gray's roommate did find out about his secret during their first night at the resort, but they kept it secret, so as not to make the man feel embarrassed. But they didn't think that she was the rumored 'Bloody Princess' the others were talking about.

"I still can't believe though that the doll I've wanted to see is really true" Cana claimed, staring at the doll who was sitting in the middle of the table.

"Agree." Levy seconded with the following question "But Gray, why didn't you tell us?"

"Well, I don't know" The raven-haired man shrugged, eating his ice scone with strawberry syrup. Natsu had stood as she saw Gray eating. Sticking her tongue out, Gray allowed her to lick. "Well, more like. I don't really know how to tell you guys."

"But Juvia knows about her moving on her own" Lucy claimed.

"She kind of saw Natsu firing her powers at her face"

"What do you mean?"

"Because the Ice bastard almost cheated right in front of me" Natsu muttered.

Curiosity got piqued, as they heard the reason why. Grinning widely to Gray. Lucy patted his shoulder and laughed, "I didn't know that your doll is your lover, Gray." She teased. Levy was covering her mouth, as she tried to stifle her laugh. While Cana was laughing as loud as she could.

"You shouldn't cheat on your lover Gray" Cana added.

"I did not and Natsu is not really a doll. I mean she is a doll, but not really a doll. I mean she is a DOLL, but not really a DOll" Gray went silent after realizing what he said, "Oh for Pete's sake, What am I even trying to explain."

"No worries Gray, we already know what you mean"

"Juvia told you?"

"Indeed"

"So, do you already have any leads about her then?" Lucy finally asked Gray.

"We already have, and it seems that the owner or the principal of the school might know something" The blue-haired lass explained, sitting on the chair after placing some paper bags on top of the table.

"Juvia, Did you buy it?" The pink-haired doll asked, waiting curiously to her rival in love.

Juvia let out a smile, fishing the paper bag for Natsu's favor. Taking out a plastic full of mini clothes and some candies inside. Natsu had stood, grabbing the plastic her friend had handed to her. Opening it with delight, she grabbed a piece of candy and munched on it while taking some clothes out from the bag.

Taking out a short and shirt, she twirled and showed her new clothes to Gray. "Does it look good on me?" Natsu grinned.

Gray had only raised his brow, "It's a short and a shirt. It will look good on anyone" picking a spoon full of ice cream, Gray placed it inside his mouth.

Natsu had pouted from his response, turning her back to him. She sat back down and placed the clothes back inside. "Droopy eyed jerk" The doll muttered loudly for him to hear. Making the Ice Magician talk back.

"What was that Slanted eyes want a fight?"

"Huh? Do you think you can win Ice butt?"

"That should be my line Tabasco Idiot."

"Now, now, enough with the lover's quarrel"

"Anyways, we did have some leads about her through the picture that we found online" Juvia explained.

"Picture?"

"This one" the blue-haired woman pointed out while fishing her bag for Natsu's picture and showed them the only picture Natsu had when she was still living in Clover town.

"Such a cute girl."

An alarm from Lucy's phone had them stop their chat and listened to her talk. Standing up after they left the bill. They left the store as they went back to the resort for them to head home back to their town. Bisca and Alzack were already there with their bags hanging behind their back and some paper bags in their hands.

Gray waves his hand, as his head glanced towards the cottage they stayed. Opening the door to find Jet and Droy picking up their bags with paper bags filled with anime doll figurines inside. Heading ahead of him, they left Gray alone to take his bag and made sure nothing was left.

"Come on, get inside" The raven-haired man called to the pink-haired doll, now wearing a dress that Juvia had bought for her. Pouting on her way, she sat inside the bag and opened a snack. Eating as she grumbled. Gray had left the bag open, as he closed the door. Picking up his other bag, he made his way back to the Lobby.

His friends were already lining beside the bus, waiting for their teacher to call their names. After that was done, Gray was left alone to sit on his own, allowing Natsu to be placed beside him. Even before the bus started, Natsu had already felt the sickening feeling inside her stomach.

Not an hour had passed and the bus had already started to run. Standing behind Gray's bus was a woman wearing black, smiling creepily towards them. A housekeeper passed by and felt chills when he passed the standing lady.

Snores and chatter from the students had filled the bus, as they would need to wait for almost three hours to reach Magnolia. Stopping by at the Kanugi town to have their lunch before they head back to Magnolia. Leaving Gray alone in the bus to tend to the sickly doll inside his bag, while asking his friends to bring some food for them to eat.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back later," Gray told Jet, who nodded his head in response. Gray watches Jet and the others leave from his chair. Gray had turned his head back to his bag, to find Natsu hurling with the plastic bag on her hands. He tapped her back softly with his hand in an attempt to comfort her. After she was done, Gray had taken his water bottle and opened the cap. Handing the bottle to Natsu, allowing her to drink on her own.

"Ggrraayyy" The doll cried, handing the bottle back to the raven-haired man. Gray took the bottle back and covered it with the cap. Placing it back to his other bag, while taking another clean towel from inside.

Natsu was already curling on her side while holding her tummy. Opening her mouth, she had asked again for Gray to let her out from the bus.

"No" was his only response.

"Please?"

"No, but I can open the window for you. If you will stay and behave"

She nodded her head in response and sat obediently by his side. As soon as the window opened, Natsu had placed her head outside the window. Allowing fresh air to enter her lungs. Almost half an hour that Lucy had come with their lunch. Handing her open palm to the raven-haired man, asking for his payment.

Natsu was already gobbling down her share after he paid Lucy with the bill. Opening his packed lunch, he busied himself in filling his empty stomach with food.

"You really do eat a lot as Gray had said" Lucy commented to the hungry doll. But was left unheard as the doll was busy filling her hungry stomach after all the food that she had vomited.

Not half an hour later, Gray was already making the doll drink her medicine after she had finished their meal.

"Hmm. You sure do take care a lot for your doll Gray" the blond-haired woman had teased.

"Can't be helped, she has motion sickness. Need to make her drink medicine to help her a bit" Gray spoke in reply, forcing the other half pill to the doll's little mouth. Lucy didn't fail to take a picture, as she watched Gray prying the doll's mouth to open while holding the halve medicine with his other hand. Pinching the doll's nose, he placed the pill inside and followed it with water. Closing her mouth, waiting for her to gulp it down.

"I hate you" was the doll's cry after being forced. Insisting that she doesn't need it anymore as she was healthy and can take motion sickness without medicine.

Minutes passed and soon their classmates had started to get inside the bus, waiting for the others to come.

It didn't take an hour before they continued their way back home. As the students were already inside and Driver was already driving the bus. Snoring, chatting, and playing as they waited for almost an hour for them to arrive back to their town.

It was almost two in the afternoon that the second year's students had finally arrived at their school. Making their way out from the bus with their luggage and backpacks in their hands. Stretching their body after an hour of sitting.

"Does anybody have all their things? Nothing missing and forgotten?" their Teacher Conbolt had asked. Earning no negative response, the teacher had put it aside.

Mr. Conbolt had picked up his bag when Principle Makarov Dreyar had come and asked for his attention inside his office. Nodding his head, he followed the principle back to the school building.

"Finally back at last. Good thing we have no class tomorrow" Lucy stretched, calling out Loke, asking help to carry her bags home.

"Eh? Really?" Droy curiously asked, eating a bag of chips from his hand.

"Yes silly. Tomorrow is Sunday. Would you like to go on your own?" His childhood friend came and spoke with a smirk.

"Come on, let's get going. I'm tired and sleepy" the light blue-haired lass offered to her two childhood friends. Carrying her bag and paper bags with her hands.

"See you guys on Monday." Bisca and Alzack had left, carrying their bags on their own and some souvenirs that they had bought.

"Then I need to get going now. Later Gray bid as he left with Lucy and Loke, and soon being followed by Juvia.

A curly black-haired woman was standing near the window as she watched Gray left with his friends.  _ "Soon. Soon. You will be back in my possessions" _ the woman in black uniform had whispered on her own, placing her palms on the window, as she smiled with malice from her eyes while staring at the raven-haired man.

Gray was alone on his way home after Juvia left together with Lucy and Loke. There was a pregnant silence when a loud sneeze from his bag, was heard. Earning the attention of some passerby, Gray hurried and hid in a secluded area. He made his way to the park, straight to where the trees are. He opened his bag after he made sure that no one would pass by. Natsu was wheezing and flustered. He placed his palm on her forehead and found her having a fever. Without wasting any seconds, he hurried his way back to his house. Not knowing what to do, as he remembered how he lost his father.

Back at the principal's office. A white-haired principal had opened his office door wide, "Come in Mr. Conbolt. There is someone I want to introduce to you" Makarov sat on his chair, waiting for the dark blue-haired teacher to arrive and sit inside. Once Mr. Conbolt was inside, another presence was inside. A black-haired Lady in black uniform was sitting on the couch. She was smiling towards the blue-haired man while radiating a dark aura around her. The teacher smiled back and went to take his seat. He waited for their principle to speak.

"This is our new second-year student and will be in your class."


	16. Episode 15

_A white-haired man was sitting inside his office with his phone in his hand talking to someone from the other line. Nodding his head in response, the old man had released a sigh and accepted the caller's request._

_"I understand Mrs. Mavis. I'll do as you wish"_

_"Thank you for understanding Principal Dreyar. It really is rare for her to request."_

_"No, you shouldn't thank me. You're the owner of this school. So, of course, I'll accept her and we accept anybody in Fairy Tail. Wouldn't you agree with me?"_

_"Well, I guess. Thank you very much and see you around Principle Dreyar."_

_Beeping sounds had then come out from his phone. Closing it back, the principal placed his phone back to his pocket. Reading the paper he was holding, he stared at the picture of their new student._

_"Guess, you will be placed in class 2-A then" Makarov let out a sigh, placing the paper bag in the envelope._

"So with that, she will be in your class" Makarov announced to Mr. Conbolt. "Her name is Hikaru and please do watch over her. She's a relative from the owner's closest friend."

"I understand Principle Makarov" The blue-haired man affirmed. Averting his gaze back to the lass, he introduced himself again. "Nice meeting you Hikaru. I'll be your class teacher. Mr. Conbolt or Mr. Macao is fine."

The girl only stared at his hand and nodded her head. Standing from the couch, she picked up her paper bags and turned to the principal.

"I no longer see any purpose for me to stay here. I obtained what should be obtained, so I bid you well" The black-haired woman left and transformed into a group of black butterflies. Flying like bees as they left through the wide-open window.

‘Looks like another weirdo will be in my class’ the dark blue-haired man thought to himself, watching the butterflies leave.

Running with heavy bags on his hands and cradling another bag with care in his hands. The air caressed his face as he ran fast as he could. Breathing heavily as he reached his home, opening their gates with haste. He kicked them open and went inside.

"Hey, Gray is that how you greet us after being away from home for three days?" a raven-haired woman had scolded his son. Raising her brow as he stared at how her youngest was disheveled.

"Are you alright?" she finally asked, surprised at how terrified his face looks.

Gray had walked towards his Mother.

"Mom, I'll explain it to you later. Please tend to her first" he muttered not caring with her shock expression.

"Tend? Who? Did you get someone injured?"

"No, but Natsu's Sick"

"Natsu?" She tilted her head to her right, not understanding what her son was talking about.

Gray walked towards the veranda placing the bag on the floor. He opened it wide to show a flustered sickly doll.

"Oh, you mean the doll. But I didn't know that dolls can get sick." Ur stepped closer to Natsu, carrying her like a child as she stepped inside the house.

"Anyways, put your things back to your room and we'll talk later" Ur commanded, carrying Natsu towards the guest room. Halting her steps, she turned. "And after that, bring me another set of her clothes and a bowl of hot water and a towel and also a glass of orange juice."

"Orange juice? For who?"

"Mine of course."

"I see"

"And you don't need to worry, she won't die" Ur reminded her son. Continuing her way towards the guest room, she laid the doll to the Futon and took her temperature.

Gray averted his eyes back to his bag, reminding himself that his father didn't die because of a fever. Picking his bag back, he went to his room more calmly. Opening his room he placed his bag on the floor and took out some of Natsu's new clothes from the bag and a small towel. He made his way back downstairs and headed to the kitchen. He took a bowl and filled it half with warm water. Carrying the things he was asked he went to the guest room, to find his Mother taking Natsu's clothes off.

"What are you doing?" the lad had asked.

"Taking her clothes off... place those things here" Ur had told his son, pointing her finger beside the Futon.

The room was a Four Tatami Mat room with a Futon being placed on the ground, where Natsu was being stripped off from her clothes by his Mother. Walking towards the two, he squatted and placed the bowl and the towel beside his Mother. He stood up and went back towards the kitchen.

When Gray came back Natsu was already wearing her change of clothes and a wet towel on her forehead. Giving his Mother her orange juice, the lad sat down and stared at the doll.

"When did you know?" Gray spoke curiously.

"When I kept hearing someone shouting inside your room" Ur muttered.

"This jerk might have done something while I was away then”

"Oh. Now that you mentioned it, I came home with our living room and kitchen in havoc. I thought someone broke in. But I found your doll lying on the couch and found some food smudge around her lips."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, anyways. She should be fine after some rest. I'll leave her to you, kay? And she's not like your Father. So be at ease." Ul stood up and left the room. Gray nodded his head, watching Ul leave the room. Turning his head back to the doll, the door was again opened.

"By the way, is Natsu allergic to something?" Ul asked. Gray had only smiled, standing up walking towards his Mother.

It was already morning when Gray found Natsu sleeping peacefully beside him. He went back to his room and spent all his day taking care of a sick doll.

The day passed and it was already morning when he found himself sleeping in the guest room again. He must have fallen asleep when he chatted with his mother about his past and how he got Natsu in his care. He stood up and checked on Natsu's fever, cupping her forehead and touching her small hands. He could feel that her fever was going down. He patted her head and left the room.

He went back to his room to change into his uniform. He took his bag after he was done and went straight to the kitchen. Grabbing a piece of bread, he made a bite together with a sunny side up egg. He chewed and drank his Juice. After he was done, he went back to the guest room to make a final check on Natsu. He peeked inside and saw her mother changing the towel on the doll's forehead. Ul noticed her adopted son and told him to leave for school, which the young lad nodded his head and left, leaving Natsu in his Mother's care.

Gray was walking on his way to school, being greeted by Lucy on his way. The two made their way together towards the school, and went straight to their classroom, telling Lucy about Natsu's Fever.

School Bell rang and Gray took his lunch box with him, making his way to the rooftop when he was suddenly halted by four petite arms. He turned and saw Lucy and Juvia grabbing both his arms. Wondering why the young ladies just told him to follow them. They went behind the school ground and had their lunch on one of the benches.

"I found some more clues" Juvia Blurted to Gray

Gray turned and Juvia continued to speak. "I found some more pictures about Natsu, I was just checking the internet when I came across this picture of a kid that looks like Natsu and a word missing under the picture."

"Really that's great. Where did you find it?" The blond asked.

"Yes, that's the thing. It seems like someone in this school knows Natsu"

"Really that's great. Who is it?" Lucy asked, filled with excitement.

"Well, that is…"

"Do you know Natsu?"

Before Juvia can finish her words, Mirajane who happened to overhear their conversation asked with hopeful eyes. The second-year turned their head and saw Mirajane, asking them the question again. Juvia nodded her head and said Yes.

The white long-haired woman felt her tears starting to fall from her eyes. She walked towards Juvia and asked where she was. Juvia turned her head to Gray and so did Mirajane.

"You know where she is Gray?" she asked now facing the confused young man. Gray peaked towards the blue-haired girl and saw her release a sigh.

"Well, He does now where she is. But he doesn't know who you are looking for."

Mirajane and Gray faced each other.

"Ohh, I'm sorry. I must've confused you then" the older woman apologized.

"No, it should be me saying sorry. I haven't explained everything yet"

Lucy just stayed on the side and listened to their talk while continuing on her lunch.

"Mirajane, surely you have heard about the Bloody Princess, right?" the Water user asked.

The older just nodded her head and waited for her to continue. Gray widened his eyes trying to stop his friend from telling the older senior their secret.

"The thing is. That Bloody Princess is the Girl that you are looking for is in Gray’s care"

Mirajane placed her hands on her mouth and muttered "You mean Natsu is in Gray’s Care?” She asked, earning a nod. A smile formed on her lips, and felt relief. “Finally after all this time, she was just so near and we didn't know. Wait. Doll? Natsu is the Bloody Princess?"

"Yes, you're correct. And for that, it seems that she got cursed by some stranger thus the reason she got turned into a doll. Though she can move and talk"

"Really? Can I see her? Where is she? Is she doing well?" the worried lass asked.

Juvia turned her head to gray as if telling gray to tell her. Gray faced Mirajane, who is now facing him.

"She's doing well, though she is sick right now and being taken care of by my mother. You can visit her if you want" the lad replied. Receiving a hug from her and turning him red as a tomato.

"I'll definitely go. Can I go today? Can I bring Lisanna and Elfman with me?" she asked with excitement.

The young lad just nodded his head, still in beat red. Mirajane gave him her gratitude and told him their meeting place. She gave one last hug and thanked Lucy and Juvia. She soon left after she was satisfied with their information and the good news about their missing sibling in their house.

Gray turned to Juvia and asked her where she got the information. “Well I was about to tell you that I found it on her account, but I guess all is well”. Though she was curious as to why she found it in Mirajane's account. She was planning to approach the other first but decided to tell Gray instead.

"Well, at least we now know who her relatives are, right?" The blond girl smiled.

"I guess" Gray muttered before he continued eating his lunch.

Back at the Fullbuster residence, a pink-haired doll seems to be feeling better than usual and now in a conversation with Ul. Telling her the relationship she has with Gray and that she will not allow anyone going in between them. The mother just laughed and patted her head, wondering as to how old she really is.

"I'm 17 years old. Same age with Gray"

Ul, not believing her at all, just nodded her head and laughed. "I see. Then you're planning to get married to Gray when you two turn 18?" she jokingly asked. After a few seconds, there were no responses. She opened her eyes and stared at an overly excited pink-haired doll beaming with happiness after hearing the word 'marriage' and 'gray' in one sentence. She faced the older woman and sat in a very formal position. She slowly bowed her head and said with a proud loud voice 

"It's an honor that you will accept me as your daughter in law. Rest assured that your son is in great care once we get married, I will give him all my love and care for eternity. Thank you very much Mother" Natsu finished, completing her bow with her forehead touching the back of her hands.

Ul just went silent and in shock. To think that this doll or person rather she is talking with is showing how serious she is in her relationship with Gray. She stared at the bowing figure for a minute and released a cough. Natsu raised her head and smiled.

"Well, if you say so. I approve of your relationship with my son and I will give you my consent for your marriage". She replied. Thinking there will be no worries at all. None at all.


	17. Episode 16

"Yes, later after school. They asked me if they can come and visit Natsu"

There was a minute of pause before the man spoke again, nodding his head. He smiled as he heard the voice of a certain pink-haired doll, asking him for some snack. He ended the call and placed it back in his pocket. He went back to his classroom after he heard the School bell signaling that class will be starting in a few minutes.

He went inside his classroom to find Lucy beside his table as if trying to get something inside.

"What are you doing?"

Lucy was silent when she slowly turned her head. She stood up and left his table without responding back to him. Gray stared at her retreating figure and sat on his chair. He placed his hand inside, wondering what the blonde girl was doing on his desk. He felt a piece of paper from his desk and took it out, he turned the envelope and observed it for a while. He turned his head to where Lucy was sitting with her head resting on the desk, while her hands were hanging on the side. He turned his attention back to the letter and opened it.

"Give her back" was the only sentence that was written on the paper. His face changed in confusion as he read the letter in his hands. He turned his head again to Lucy, to find her sitting up looking confused in her chair.

"What? What happened to me? Why are classes starting?" she asked her seatmate, who only giggled from her question.

The classroom's door opened and in came their teacher. He placed the attendance book on his table and called for their attention.

"Okay class, I know it is sudden and in the middle of the day. But we have a transfer student" The teacher turned his head towards the door, and called the Transfer Student. A group of butterflies came from the window and started to group beside the teacher. Few Minutes later, a blacked haired woman was in front of them. Looking so pale in her black uniform and was smiling towards the class.

"Well, anyways. This is Hikaru Sakurai. The owner's friend made a request to let her enroll in this school. That’s all. be friendly to each other, Okay? " The Students responded with a ‘Yes’.

"Now, please take your seat. Behind that Blond girl over there" The man said, pointing towards the seat behind Lucy.

The black-haired woman walked her way towards the chair. But the student looked at her in confusion when she made her way towards Gray's chair. She faced Gray in silence as she smiled towards him, she held out her hand as if asking something from him. Confused, Gray shook her hand. When she suddenly slapped his face with her free hand. The class gasped and was silent after watching the transfer student suddenly slapping the raven-haired lad.

Alarmed, the teacher made his way towards the new student and reprimanded her for her actions. However, she remained silent and with a frown, she went to her assigned seat. Murmurs erupted in the room, as they asked Gray if he knew her.

Conbolt turned to Gray and asked him to go to the clinic, as his face got a scratch and his mouth was bleeding. The young man nodded his head and stood up. He then left the room and headed towards the clinic. The teacher then turned to the transfer student, who remained silent acting as if she didn’t do anything.

"Ms. Sakurai. You're still a new student. Please avoid getting yourself into trouble. After class I want you to be at the teacher's office. I'll be asking you some questions later." He scolded, and turned to leave. "Okay, the class will resume, stop talking to each other."

Classes finally ended and the new student had already left. Gray released a sigh of relief, stressed from being glared at by the new student. Lucy had then gone to his chair and asked if he knew her.

"No, I don't. It's the first time I met her"

"But why did she slap you?"

"I don't know. Anyways, Lucy. What is this?" Gray asked, showing her the envelope he was holding?

"Hm? What is?"

"This envelope. You placed it under my desk, earlier when I caught you"

"Huh? I don't know what you are talking about. This is the first time I saw this envelope"

"But I saw you earlier, I asked you. But you just left and slept on your table"

"That's weird. I remember eating my lunch in the garden and falling asleep. When I woke up, I was already sitting on my chair"

Gray stared at his friend, confused with what she said. She placed it back inside his back and swung it on his shoulder. "Anyways. I'll go now. Mirajane and the others might be waiting for me already by the gate"

Lucy nodded her head and took her bag. She left together with Gray, as her other friends are assigned for Homeroom cleaning. She scanned the room, realizing that Juvia had left with the trash can on her hands, while Cana had left heading to the Teacher's office. The others are nowhere to be found, and some are busy organizing the chairs.

Gray and Lucy went to get their Shoes, and the two parted ways after Mirajane with Elfman and Lisanna greeted Gray.

"Were you waiting long?" he asked.

"Not really. You were just in time. Elfman arrived almost at the same time as you"

"Let's go then" he offered as he guided the three towards his home. "Oh, but before that. Can we go to the convenience store? Natsu asked me to buy something for her."

Mirajane just smiled and agreed, thinking of buying gifts as well.

They went towards the nearest convenience store, buying some cookies and a liter of juice. Gray paid for it and left the store, waiting for the siblings to get out. Elfman came out first, with a plastic bag on his hand. The muscled man had bought himself some magazines and some chocolates. Lisanna and Mirajane then went out with some fruits that they bought and a lot of puddings on the other plastic bag.

They left the store and went straight to Gray's house. He opened the entrance door and left it wide open for the rest to come inside. They were then greeted by a dark purpled haired college student wearing a scarf and was about to put on her shoe. Ultear turned her head and told her mother they are here. Ul then hurriedly made her way to the students and smiled at them. Offering them slippers for them to get inside.

"Oh yes, Gray. Natsu's awake now and is looking for you. Also, congrats on your engagement" the lady teased as he left and slowly closed the door.

"Engage? I didn't know that you are engaged gray" The oldest of the siblings asked.

"Could it be Juvia?" The youngest teased.

"That's very manly of you Gray. You're still 17 years old and already have someone to spend the rest of your life with." Elfan proudly commented, giving a pat on Gray's back.

"No, you got it wrong. I'm not engaged and not with her. And anyway, you're not here to tease me but to visit a relative of yours right?"

"That's right, where is she Gray?" Lisanna asked. Smiling with excitement in her eyes. Excited to see her childhood friend that she lost.

Ul called their attention, "Natsu went back to your room Gray. She said the guest room is too small for her to play with"

"Play? Don't tell me." He dashed towards the stairs and went to his room, and opened the door. But it was already too late, as his room was already in a mess.

"Damn you Natsu, what do you think you are doing in my room?"

"Oh, Gray. Welcome back."

"You, why are you always making a mess in my room"

"Did not, your room was already in a mess when I came in"

"Don't you lie, you damn Monkey doll"

"Huh! What was that you Perverted Droopy eyed bastard"

"Clean up this mess now you Squinty eyes, you have visitors"

"No way Popsicle Princess. You clean it"

"You Flame Brain, are you trying to pick a fight?"

A clap had disrupted their fight, they turned their head and found Ul, standing behind the three siblings. She released a sigh and apologized to their guests, who were looking confused at the sight.

"No, It's fine Mrs. Ul'' Mirajane replied. Lisanna didn’t wait to be introduced again and ran towards the doll to give her a tight hug. Natsu was perplexed at the faces she finds familiar, but can't remember who they are.

"Excuse me." The pink-haired doll said. "Who the hell are you?" The doll asked rudely, earning a chuckle from the visitors. The siblings just stared and surprised to hear what their childhood friend asked.

"Well, I guess you forgot how we look since it's been a while" Elfman commented. "My name is Elfman Strauss, this woman beside me is Mirajane and the one in front of you is Lisanna. Do you remember us now Natsu?" He asked, hoping the doll would remember their name. However, the doll just tilted her head to the side and smiled, still confused.

"Oh, I see. Nice to meet you. My name is Natsu Dragneel. I heard from Mom that you are Gray's friend? Well, Thank you for taking care of my Fiancée. I know he's an idiot, but anyways try to bear it and be friends with him" she grinned at them, and soon yelled in pain when Gray had smacked her on her head.

"You really don't remember us?" the youngest asked. Once again, Natsu just tilted her head to her side, looking confused.

"It's us Natsu. We used to be friends back in when you were staying at an orphanage house, called Fairy Tail"

Natsu just stared at the youngest sibling, now looking even more confused, as her head started to get hurt. She furrowed her brows, trying to understand what the young lady was telling her.

"Remember when after school, you would always leave me on my own on our way home. Since you are very excited to eat Mirajane's cake." Natsu stepped back, starting to get unsettled from what Lisanna was saying. Instead, Lisanna grasped her shoulder and desperately tried to make Natsu remember. Mirajane had walked towards the frustrated girl, trying to calm her down and let go of Natsu. Natsu was now shaking her head and grasping her ears as if covering them. Once Lisanna let her go, Natsu had run towards Gray and jumped toward his chest.

Surprised, Gray immediately placed his hand under her to support her weight and she closed her eyes and placed her face near Gray's chest. There was a pregnant pause before Mirajane broke the silence. She asked Lisanna to stand as the girl was now covering her eyes, trying to remove the tears from her eyes. Mirajane tried to calm her down as they went downstairs and went towards the living room after Ul had seen them looking depressed.

"I guess it didn't go well?"

The oldest only nodded her head, still trying to calm her younger sister from sobbing.

"But why can't she remember us?" The White-haired man asked.

A few minutes later, Gray had arrived. Looking worried at his friend, still sobbing from what they found out.

"From when I first met Natsu. She told me she doesn't remember everything. More like, everything has just been hazy for her when it comes to her memories before she was turned into a doll" The siblings turned their head and found Gray making his way beside his mother.

"Where is she?" his Mother asked.

"She's still in my room. Currently having a headache"

"That's not good. Please give her this medicine." Mirajane offered. "When she was young, she tends to get headaches once she felt stress"

"I will" Gray took the medicine and went back to his room with a glass of water in his hand. He then came back to the living room and started talking about what he learned from Natsu.

"All she remembers is her name, and that she was a Human before and lastly she remembers being cursed by a woman she doesn't know"

"Then that must be the reason for her disappearance."

"Might be. Also, I heard from her. That she has been passed around by different people a lot of times after finding out that she can move. Juvia, I and Gajeel are trying to pry some information about her. But all we got are pictures" He said and took some pictures from his pocket. There were three pictures on the table. One of the pictures was a young pink-haired girl with a cat beside her feet. The others were a picture of her with the word 'Missing' written below. While the other one was a younger picture of her with an old house behind her and trees around the area.

"Also it seems like she remembers her uncle, who was currently missing. She was living on her own at a young age and was then brought at the orphanage house in Clover town"

"Are you still trying to get some information about her?" Mirajane asked.

"Yes, we are. We might be able to trace the person who placed this curse on her and have it undone"

"Then let us help you," Lisanna responded strongly. "I can help you search for information. I can go to our previous school where Natsu and I were enrolled before. We might get some clues".

The oldest then clasped her hands, thinking of a good idea as well. "Elfman and I can visit the orphan house that she used to stay and we might get clues as well at the old house that she used to live with her uncle. It’s possible that we might get some information from there."

Gray only nodded his head and smiled. Accepting their request in helping Natsu out.

Few hours after planning what they will do. The Strauss sibling had left Gray's house. They were at the gate, still talking about Natsu when Lisanna noticed the doll poking her head from the window staring at them. She then waved towards the doll, but Natsu only stared back. After the siblings left, Natsu closed the curtain.

In deep thought, Natsu really felt something about them. But she can't remember it at all. Her head started to get hurt, but as she was deep in her thought, she accidentally fell from the bed while walking in circles. She sat up after the fall and held her head from the pain, she soon realized that the headache was gone.

"What am I doing? Why am I here?" she asked herself. "Where's Gray? Was I thinking about something?" she murmured, the door was then opened and Gray went inside his room.

Staring at the pinked haired doll, sitting beside his bed. Looking deep in thoughts.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm… It felt like I remembered something, but I don't know what it is. Hey Gray?"

The man smiled sadly at her while walking towards his table to do his homework. "What is it?"

"Can you remember it for me?"

Gray fell from his chair and stared at the doll. Trying to hold a laugh and continued to stare at her.

"It's just that. When I try to remember. My head started to hurt and when I listened to that woman earlier. I don't know, I felt something warm inside" she turned her head to Gray and pointed in her heart. "But when I try to remember. My head would feel like it would crack open and I get dizzy, it really hurts a lot."

Gray's brows started to furrow, trying to get more information. But Natsu started to complain, saying her head hurts. He grabbed Natsu up and placed her on his bed. Telling her to get some sleep and try not to be deep in her thoughts. Natsu just smiled and said her night greetings to Gray. It didn’t take her long though to doze off. Gray just stared at her sleeping form and sighed. Hoping they will get more information about her soon.

The raven-haired lad had opened his bag and was greeted by the envelope he received from earlier and the sudden slap on his face by his new classmate. "Hikaru", He thought to himself. That's when he remembered someone asking him, "Anyway, Gray. Do you know anyone named Hikaru?" But he really doesn't know who the transfer student is. 

After he was done with his Homework, he turned off the light and lied down beside Natsu. He closed his eyes and went to sleep after a few minutes.

Outside, a black-haired woman was standing by a light post just outside Grays’ house, staring directly at his room. As if she can see inside.

"She's mine and you know that." She whispered to herself and left.

"She's mine and you know that." Gray heard directly. He suddenly sat up from his bed, thinking someone was whispering to his ears. But found no one, aside from Natsu sleeping beside him.

"That's mine." The Doll murmured in her sleep, twisting and turning as she giggled. Still sleeping.


	18. Episode 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natsu's Past.

It was a cold morning out of the woods. Leaves falling everywhere, birds singing every tune, and the sound from the ax chopping the woods into half. A man around the age of 28 was busy cutting the woods and gathering them for their daily necessities for fire. Using the white cloth hanging by his shoulder, he took it off and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He placed the ax on the ground and went inside his house while planning for their breakfast.

A few minutes later, Igneel was already plating their breakfast, when a pink messy-haired girl was tip-toeing as if trying to hide her presence. The man just smiled and ignored the furball, heading towards the table with the plates on his hand. As soon as he walked in, the messy hair would move, he smirked how she was trying to be as silent as she could. He placed the plates on the table and went to get some drinks.

"Wwwaaarrgg" came to a call from the pink fur ball. "I got you" she cheered and laughed, as she hugged the man on his side.

Igneel laughed and pretended to be caught. He hugged the girl back and picked her up, placing her on his side and gave a kiss on her cheeks.

"Good morning, my little dragon slayer"

"Good mon'n Igneel" Natsu greeted her Uncle.

"We better eat now" the older man commented, after hearing the growling stomach of his niece.

Breakfast ended, and Natsu was already outside the house. Igneel was left sitting in front of the table, writing a letter. He suddenly heard her laugh and giggles. Standing up from his desk, he walked closer towards the window, only to find her playing happily with a blue kitten. His face started to furrow as he remembered the past. Their past of what happened before they arrived.

"IGNEEL?!" the pink-haired shouted.

The man was brought back to his senses and looked down to see Natsu. He smiled and kneeled in front of her while ruffling on her hair, not noticing the blue kitten on her hands. Natsu smiled and thrust the kitten towards his face. "Can I keep him?" She asked, the man smiled and nodded his head. Blooming with happiness, she decided to name the kitten 'Happy'.

Igneel let out a cough and called her attention. "Natsu, there is something I want to tell you as well."

Natsu tilted her head, wondering what it was while hugging the kitten tightly on her arms.

"Your panties are showing," he said as he pulled her skirt down.

Natsu let out a very dramatic shout and giggled, as she didn't really care how she looked. She smiled and repeated to shout again and again.

"I think it's best if we buy some pants, once we arrive at the market" The little girl smiled and nodded her head in agreement. Thinking of letting her buy candies and cakes for her. "and while we are there. Let's eat at that store you mentioned" and this made Natsu beam more with smiles and energy.

It was three in the afternoon when the two left the house with the cat after the little girls insisted. But before they left the woods, Natsu tilted her head to the side as she watched Igneel doing weird things. Staring at the man, muttering to himself as he faced where their tiny house is. Every time they leave, he would always do the same thing. Even after they arrive, Natsu never fails to see Igneel doing this stuff outside the woods over and over again. Curious as she is, she once asked the man. But Igneel ignored her question and would pretend he didn't hear it.

Natsu held into Igneels' pants, earning his attention. He patted her head and offered his hand for her to hold on. Walking their way towards the town while talking about stuff that would come into the little girl's mind. It was after forty-five minutes to reach their destination since the place they are staying is far from the city. Since Igneel had feared that one day someone might be after their life.

It was a day like this, that it happened, and Natsu was only a few months old when he saw her. Igneel was on his way home from work, when he suddenly received a call from his dying brother, asking him for help. Before he could ask what happened. His brother was unresponsive. He ignored it for a few hours, knowing his brother used to prank him a lot before. But a call from the hospital got him wrong, he immediately packed some of his clothes and left for their hometown. Once he arrived, he saw Natsu crying loudly from the Nurse's arms. They didn't believe him at first that he is her Uncle, but after proving it to them that he was indeed her Uncle after showing them their family register. They decided to let the young man take care of her.

After the funeral, Igneel stayed at his Brother's house for a week. Packing and preparing some clothes and toys for his niece. On his third stay, he noticed some strangers he hadn't seen before hanging around the house. Almost every day, he would see people he doesn't recognize. One time, he tried to talk to one of them, but he was ignored and they would run away. He asked some neighbors, but they didn't know them as well. On his last day at his Brother's house, he saw a black-haired man standing by the tree, staring back at him with his hands holding a broken twig. He stared back at the young man for a few seconds and left. Holding little Natsu tightly on his arms.

Arriving at his home with the baby in his hands. He was greeted by his Landowner and asked him what happened, he explained the situation to her and she understood. After knowing his situation, the landowner had offered to let her help in taking care of Natsu while he is off work, which he agreed. But a few days later, he noticed that they had been followed, worried about his niece. He decided to leave the house that he rented and went back to his Father's house, which was in the woods.

They arrived at some clothing store and went to the kids' area. Passing by some woman, staring at him gleefully. As soon as she saw him, the woman followed him around. Igneel didn't fail to notice this, as the woman kept on stealing glances towards him. He placed his hands under Natsus' armpit and picked her up. Placing him on his side, while holding a tight grip on his niece. Natsu smiled from being suddenly picked up and gave her uncle a kiss.

"What's wrong Uncle? Does Igneel want a hug?" She asked innocently, not noticing his Uncle's behavior. As soon as he was about to leave and told Natsu, they'll pick clothes later. the woman who was staring at him called his attention. He stopped from his tracks and turned. "What?" He asked, sounding alert and on guard.

"Umm.." she trailed shyly. Which made him be more on guard and held Natsu closer.

"I heard you saying, you are picking clothes?" She asked. "Is it for the little girl? I think I can help you. I have a daughter as well, but she doesn't like frilly clothes at all. By the way, I am single. So no need to worry about being found out about a husband. Since I am a single mother with two daughters, oh but she has one body..." And on and on she talked about herself.

Igneel stared at the woman and stepped back from her. Seeing her talking about her private life to him, even though he doesn't know her. Suddenly, she stopped talking. She stared at the man again and smiled. She walked towards them and said. "How about you little girl? Do you like girly clothes?" She asked the young Natsu. The pink-haired girl just stared at the woman innocently. Thinking that this woman knows her Uncle. Natsu nodded her head and smiled.

"Oh my, such a sweet smile. I hope my daughters would smile as you do" she commented, as she raised her hand to cup the little girl's cheeks. But Igneel pulled back, not letting the black-haired woman do as she wanted. She stared at him with one of her brows raising. But she didn't care, she tried to do it again.

"Please refrain from touching my child" he growled. "We're leaving" with that Igneel turned and left. Natsu stared back at the woman and the woman did the same. She waved goodbye to the girl and laughed to herself. Then a manager came and asked if something was wrong. She only laughed at him for nothing and pinched his cheeks. She walked towards the exit and left the store laughing out of delight. Leaving the shoppers thinking that she is mental on the loose.

"What's wrong Uncle?" His niece asked.

Igneel remained silent and continued to walk far from the shop. He found himself in the park and sat down, placing Natsu on the chair beside him. The worried little girl asked again if something was wrong. But his Uncle just smiled and patted her head. The silence was disrupted when Natsu's tummy started to growl again. Smiling towards her Uncle, she asked for food. The man just smiled and stood up, offering his hand for her to take as they headed towards the crepe caravan.

Natsu ate her fill with sweets as she waited for her uncle in the mail post with her cat eating a dried fish by her side. Saying he needs to send a letter to someone who she will meet soon. She just nodded her head and waited as patiently as she could while eating her treats. After Igneel was done, Natsu then stood up from her chair and grabbed his hand. Her tummy growled again. Signing that it's dinner time already.

"Your tummy is always hungry. Isn't it Natsu?" He laughed, making the little girl smile and laugh together with him.

It was already night time when the two arrived at the house. Placing the bags on the side filled with her clothes and snacks. Natsu was already sound asleep when they arrived. Igneel placed Natsu on the sofa, followed by Happy, who then jumped on the couch to sleep beside Natsu.

Few days passed, something weird started to happen.

A little pink-haired girl was sitting on the couch with Happy on her side purring, her arms crossed, puffing cheeks, and scrunching eyebrows. The little girl was angry.

"Come on Natsu. I will play with you. So stop sulking"

"I am not sulking." The girl retorted back.

"Yes, you are" Her Uncle responded and sat beside her. Natsu huffed and turned her back against him. The man stared at her back and ruffled her hair. "Do you hate Uncle now?"

The girl shook her head, saying that she doesn't hate him.

"But, why are you mad?"

The little girl hiccuped and said, "I just wanted to play outside" followed with her crying.

"That's why Uncle said that I will play with you."

"Then let's play outside" she responded, facing the man. Showing him her puppy eyes.

"Sorry, but No is still No, Natsu"

"But, why?"

Igneel ignored her question and rested his back on the couch. In deep thought, he sighed and gave a smile to his niece. "It's just that. It's not a good idea to play outside anymore Natsu" he replied, ruffling her hair. "Just stay inside and play with Happy instead, okay?" He pleaded.

Few minutes after the two stayed at the coach, Igneel was able to coax Natsu into playing inside the house. Took him hours and hours to satisfy the child's energy. Even after dinner time, little Natsu still had the energy to play around, bothering her Uncle every now and then.

Igneel was already washing the dishes when he left Natsu talking to Happy to do some coloring. After the little girl found some crayons hidden inside a drawer. Igneel just smiled and allowed Natsu to draw on a piece of paper, hoping she won't get bored and draw on the floors as well.

After he was done, he turned and found Natsu snoring softly on the ground. He smiled and picked the girl up. He went to her tiny room and placed her carefully on her bed. Covering her body with her blanket and giving a peck on her forehead. Standing up, he turned off the lights and left the door open. Happy, who was following her around for the whole day, jumped on her bed and curled beside Natsu.

Igneel was already in bed when he heard someone outside his house. On guard, he stood up from his bed and observed the presence around them. He went to Natsu's room and found her sleeping soundly. He went towards the living room and saw two shadows talking to the other.

"Are you really sure?" A call from the bigger shadow said to the petite one.

"Of course, I am. I happen to see them at the park, and that they look so close from the Master's description about them. Though, I wasn't able to confirm since the older man was on guard."

"Well, if you say so. Anyways if it is really them, as per instructions. He will be able to see this letter" the bigger shadow replied to the petite one.

Igneel observed the intruder, listening to what they were talking about. He moved closer to them, but then. The lights flicked on. The suspicious two noticed this and vanished into thin air.

"Igneel? What are you doing?" Natsu asked, yawning while rubbing her eye.

Igneel stood up and said it was nothing, he walked closer to Natsu and courted her back to bed. That night, Igneel slept beside Natsu, which made Natsu squeal in delight.

The next day, everything started to change. Igneel started to get distant from Natsu, leaving her every two hours just to get back after thirty minutes. He would leave her inside the house and locked the door. Not that Natsu would notice, since she will be placed to sleep once he leaves.

Weeks passed by, and Igneel would write letters and send them using one of his tiny dragons, instead of sending them personally to the post office. Natsu would sometimes ask if they could go to the city, but Igneel would refuse. Not telling her why.

A month has passed since Igneel's weird behavior started. One night, he was busy cooking Natsu's favorite food and placed them in the refrigerator. He left a note to her and placed it on top of the coffee table. After he was done packing, he went inside her room and pecked her forehead goodbye. He left the house and transformed into a dragon. One last look at his house, he stared at his door, 'I am sorry Natsu' he thought to himself, and then he left.

Morning came, and little Natsu just woke up from sleep. She turned on her side and sat up. She immediately stood up, after seeing the sun in the skies. She left her room and went to the living. She was greeted with a weird silent air. She turned her head, looking for Igneel but found none. She went to the kitchen and found some breakfast already prepared with a cover. She beamed with a smile and ate with delight, but found the food not too warm as she thought it would. After she was done. She left the kitchen and waited for Igneel, but he didn't arrive. She waited and played with Happy, found lots of food in the refrigerator, and ate. But still, Igneel didn't come back. She got worried and started to feel lonely. She left the house and walked around it, but Igneel was nowhere to be found. She walked further, but still found nothing.

Fear and Sadness. She started to cry as she realized she was left alone. She ran towards the woods and went near the sea. Calling for Igneel over and over again. Tired from looking and crying. She went back to their house. As soon as she arrived, she closed the door and sat on the couch. Happy who saw her crying would stick constantly to her not leaving her side. That's when she noticed the letter with her name on it. The little girl picked it up and read the contents.

When she was younger, Igneel taught her everything. He was her teacher, her Father, her reason for being happy. But all was gone when he left her alone in the house with her cat. Natsu felt limp, as she let go of the letter, she lied back to the coach and cried herself to sleep.

Two days later, during dawn. An old man arrived at her house and explained to her the situation. At first, she didn't want to go. Hoping that Igneel would suddenly arrive. However, after she read the letter the old man gave her. She nodded and packed her things. Gathering all her favorite stuff and left with him. She was then brought to the orphanage house named 'Fairy Tail'.


	19. Episode 18

"Hey, which one do you think is delicious? Happy" a pink-haired girl asked, looking over her friend who is a cat.

The blue Furred cat pointed a claw to a fish “That one looks delicious Natsu”

"That’s a fish, I want meat." she squats down on happy's level

"We had meat yesterday. So I say ‘Fish’ it is." Happy smugly claimed and stole Natsu’s wallet.

"Happy. Give me that back"

"Anyways, why are you buying meat? Mirajane already went yesterday and already bought some meat" Happy stated while handing the money to the fish vendor

"Well, it was not enough for me. I still want more,” she stood behind the cat and took her wallet back, she was shocked and disappointed after seeing the change left on her wallet. "You bastard you just used my money"

“Correction. Our money” the cat smirked while placing the bag of fish onto his backpack.

Natsu glared at the cat, who was now flying with his wings flapping.

"Oh my, what do we have here?" An old woman asked, smiling towards Natsu and her cat. "If it isn't Natsu"

The two Looked up towards the voice and saw the old Lady. They greeted her back and were given candies as a gift. Natsu then went and ordered some meat that she could afford with the remaining change. They waved goodbye at the old lady and the meat vendor and were finally heading home when her attention was called by someone familiar.

"Hey brute lady, what are you doing here?" a blond-haired boy asked, accompanied by his childhood friend holding a cat wearing a frog onesie.

"Oh, if it isn't the blond idiot. what made you come here?" she asked, annoyed.

Sting then greeted the girl, while smashing his forehead to hers. Natsu did the same and was rubbing their foreheads together while throwing insults at each other. Rogue let out a sigh and placed Fro down, she went towards the two and separated them.

"kay, let's stop" She sighed again and faced Natsu, "We're here because the headmaster was looking for you."

She raised one of her brows and asked.

"The hell we know, why don't you go already?" Sting responded, and grabbed the plastic Natsu was carrying.

"Hey, that's mine"

"Seriously Sting, if you like her. Just say so" the red-furred cat commented, earning a glare from his blond-haired friend and a jealous Rouge. He tried to rebuke Lector’s claim, but his denials were unheard, as the gang had already walked ahead from him. Except for Rogue, who stayed behind, staring at the floor looking grim. Her thoughts were pulled away when she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She raised her head and saw Sting looking concerned. She raised her eyebrows and smiled, walking towards the others. Sting was confused but followed her behind. He started to walk by her side and placed his arms around her shoulders. She turned her head and heard him say "If something is bothering you. Tell me okay?" She smiled back and said nothing. Hoping that one day, she will have the courage to tell him.

They finally arrived, and Natsu went straight to the headmaster's office.

"What do you want, old man?" she asked slamming the door open and closing it harshly.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock properly?" He scolded as he sat on his chair, "and try to learn some manners, aren't you a girl?"

"Who cares?"

"What? a fight with Sting again?"

Hearing his name, made her fuss more. She screamed and breathed some fire from her mouth. "That damn bastard stole my meat"

Makarov was perplexed and shook his head. Trying to ignore her cursing at the blond lad. He coughed to earn her attention and pulled out an envelope from his desk. He raised the envelope towards Natsu and encouraged her to grab it. Puzzled, Natsu grabbed it and sat at the nearest couch. She stared at it, and then at the headmaster.

"Well? are we just going to keep on staring at it?" he asked.

She laughed and started to open the envelope. She took the contents out and saw a picture of her missing uncle. "This is?"

"Your Uncle, of course. Don't tell me you already forgot what he looked like?"

"That's not it" she felt her eyes starting to water and read the papers.

"Any other leads?" she asked very softly like a whisper.

The old man only sighed and crossed his arms. "As much as I want to give you other leads, that's the only thing that we found"

Natsu took out a picture and saw her Uncle with her smiling happily. She placed it back inside the envelope and dried her tears with her arms. "Well, can't be helped. Thanks a lot, Old man. I'll do what I can when I grow older." She smiled and left the room, with the envelope on her arms.

As she was about to run to her room, she heard Rouge and Sting calling for her. But she ignored and made a straight dash to her room and slammed her door close. The two stared at each other and wondered what was wrong. They walked towards the door, but Happy had blocked their way, asking to leave her alone for the night.

_Knock knock_

No response.

_Knock knock_

No response.

It was already morning when Sting came knocking on a door, wearing a uniformed looking pissed as he bangs loudly on Natus' door. "Wake up, Natsu. you have morning duties today!"

No response.

Aggravated for being ignored, he slammed open her door using his foot. Natsu's upper body was lying on the floor face down, with a flood of drools near her nose, while her lower body was still on the bed. He sighed and walked towards her. He crouched down and pinched her cheeks, earning him a slap on his hand.

Pissed, he stood on her bed and kicked her lower body off to the ground. Finally earning a slightly awake Natsu.

"Sting, whatcha doing here?" she asked, slurring her words.

"You have morning duties today. Hurry up and get dressed." he glared.

"Five more minutes."

"Suit yourself. I'll just eat all the meat that Rouge was cooking" he said in a parting manner and closed the door.

Natsu immediately stood and started to get dressed, leaving her hair messy with her bed hair.

After she was done eating and having Mirajane brushing her hair. She grabbed her bag and left for school. Bidding her goodbyes to Happy and made a sprint towards the door. She was running and turning without care to others. Her sweatdropped, remembering that she was on morning duty today. She cursed on her mind, hoping she will make it on time. After doing a right turn, she bumped into a girl that was walking towards her. Both of them are on the ground. their bags on their side. Natsu placed a hand on her butt, feeling it ache from the fall.

"Sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't see you when I turned" Natsu apologized and stood up. She picked up both of their bags and offered a hand to a black-haired girl. The girl was looking pissed until she raised her head. The girl took her hand and blushed towards Natsu.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The girl only nodded her head, and took her bag, when Natsu gave it to her back. She was about to ask her name, but Natsu already said goodbye and made a sprint towards her school.

"I finally found you" the black-haired girl smiled and blushed, remembering the time they first met with the pinkenette.

> _A shout was suddenly heard and she felt someone was grabbing her by her shoulders. She was then on the ground with an unknown young lad with black hair that had rescued her from almost being hit by a truck. She apologized and offered money for his injuries, but he denied and hoped she would take care of herself from now on. A few seconds later, she heard someone calling her attention. She turned to the source of the voice and felt her heart thump for the first time_. 

That's how she met the pink-haired girl that she just bumped, and thought how beautiful she was. 

A few weeks later.

"Hey Sting, Hey Sting"

A pink-haired girl called out to her Blond friend. Sting turned his head and asked. A piece of paper was then placed near his face. He stepped back and grabbed the paper. Natsu was excitedly showing it to him.

"Fireworks festival?" He read loudly.

Rogue stood up from her seat and walked towards Sting. Grabbing the piece of paper he was holding.

"Do you think we can go? Should I invite Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman? It will be fun"

She glee and waited for Rogue to nod. Rogue smiled and patted Natsu's head, "Sure, but we need to ask the headmaster first."

"Who cares, let's go"

It was already the day of the fireworks, and the group was busy preparing their clothes. Sting was almost done when he heard a knock from his door. He opened it and was surprised to see Happy and Lector by his door. Without any words, they went inside and sat at the bed, looking serious.

"What's wrong?" the curious Sting asked.

"Well we are thinking about your crush"

In panic and embarrassment, he tried to deny their claim. But was rebuked by Lector, saying he can't lie to him. Sting calmed himself down and sat on his chair. He released the breath he was holding and then continued to cross his legs.

"and so?" He asked, giving up the idea of denying.

"We were thinking that you should take this chance and confess."

Sting raised one of his brows and tilted his head. "and why should I do that?" he asked.

"Well, you've been crushing at her since you met each other. and it's been years already." Lector answered.

"Though you have some small fights and quarrels, I can tell that you like her" Happy continued.

"So we are here, to support you and advise you on how to confess your feelings" the red cat followed up proudly, followed by a nodding Happy.

Sting stared at the cats first and started to laugh. Wondering why two cats are giving him love advice. He waved his hand and refused their ideas. Saying he can manage on his own. He then stood up and left the two cats on his bed. Leaving them confused and worried.

"tsk tsk, I think he will go single forever." Lector commented while shaking his head in defeat and earning a nodding from Happy.

The three are already at the festival, waiting for the Strauss and the others to arrive. They waited and waited, and no one has arrived yet. Tired, and unable to contain her excitement. Natsu had started to run off to the stalls, looking at food stalls while drooling at them. After buying some food, they sat at the side. A loud burp was heard from Natsu after she was done eating her meal. She drank from her cup and released another satisfied burp.

"Glad that you're full. Now mind paying for your share?" Sting asked jokingly. Natsu just waved her hand and ignored him for the payment. Already decided that it was his treat. Not that Sting minded paying for their food.

"There they are." Lisanna squealed. Walking towards Natsu, and giving her a tight hug. Natsu tried to run away from her hold, "you're making me vomit my food, STOP" she struggled.

"You should stop that Lisanna" Her Older Brother chided.

She finally let her go and greeted her again.

"What took you guys so long?" Rogue asked while munching on a takoyaki that Sting bought for her.

"Well, we had a bit of trouble on our way here, and thus we got late" Mirajane responded.

"Wasn't it because Elfman was on a-"

Elfman went behind Lisanna and covered her mouth. In response, Lisana made some muffled noise, struggling from his Brothers' hold.

"Anyway, where are the others?" He asked. trying to change the conversation.

"Not sure. Natsu got hungry. so we decided to eat while waiting." Rogue responded, pointing her thumb towards Natsu who is currently having a quarrel with Happy.

"I am a bit hungry, hey Mirajane, do you think we can eat now?" their youngest asked, earning a nod from Elfman.

Mirajane nodded her head, and they went to look for some food, leaving the three behind.

"I'm thirsty, Sting Buy us some drinks please?" Lector asked. Smiling towards his Human Friend.

Sting exhaled and stood up from his seat, he was about to go, when Happy called his attention. "Wait. Natsu should go with you." 

Natsu let out an annoyed expression and disagreed.

"Nope, Rogue should go with Sting" Lector replied.

Rogue then stood up without further words and grabbed Stings' arm. Walking in a hurry, before Sting would reject the offer.

"Hey, why did you let Rogue go? Shouldn't it be Natsu?" the blue cat asked.

"Why should Natsu go, Shouldn't be with Rogue?" He replied back.

"Huh?" the two asked together.

"What are two talking about?" Fro asked, innocently eating the fish, Natsu gave him. "Anyways, Fro thinks that you should leave those two alone, because Rogue is going to confess to Sting" Natsu finished, earning a shock expression from the two cats. "Fro thinks so too." The cat in onesie added.

"Huh?" the cats asked dumbly. Not realizing that despite Natsu's appearance, she can tell that they like each other.

Rogue and Sting were on their way back when Rogue suddenly grabbed his hand and pushed his shoulder on a tree. Making him drop the bag of drinks that they just bought.

"I love you" The blushing girl blurted suddenly.

Sting stared back at her and swallowed his own saliva. A few seconds later, without a word from Sting. She pressed closer towards him and felt his lips on hers. She closed her eyes, waiting for Sting to push her away. But instead, she felt him wrapping his arms around her waist. They kissed for a few seconds and parted their lips. They stared at each other's eyes and couldn't help but laugh at their faces.

"Their back" Natsu Shouted, waving towards the two. Some are bewildered, some are happy when they see the two holding hands on their way to them. Unknown to them a black-haired girl was staring at their group. Smiling and commenting on how cute her crush was, with that smile on her face.

A month later, Natsu had started to realize someone was looking at her. Curious, and intrigued. She started to look around while on guard, whenever she felt someone was looking towards her. But fails to catch the eye of the stalker.

It was a few days later, after a gym match with her male classmates, after having a basketball match with them. She was about to leave school when a lady with black hair called her attention.

"Excuse me, Are you perhaps Natsu Dragneel?" The lady asked. But already has known the pink lass's identity, after stalking her for months in secret.

"Yes, that's me" she replied smiling, earning a blush from her.

"I would like to speak with you if you won't mind."

"Okay" Natsu replied innocently.

The two started heading their way to a park, straight towards the tall trees. They halted their steps, and the black-haired lady faced her companion.

"Please go out with me" The woman blurted all of a sudden.

Minutes later. The lady in question started walking away from the park, with a pink-haired doll on her hands. She walked towards an alley and found a cat. The cat has a black fur and pink paws, that she started charging herself towards the poor cat, leaving the doll alone on the street.

A few hours later, Natsu was found by a magician in training and brought her to her own house.

Days had passed and news about the missing girl was reported, pictures of Natsu were printed on a paper with the word 'Missing' below. The town started to search for the missing girl but found nothing. Leaving her friends and her family in the orphan home depressed, from her sudden disappearance. The orphan house where she lived, felt pain in their hearts. Still hoping for the cheerful girl to come back home, smiling, telling them she was just lost. But their hopes started to fade as months had passed.

"Psstt"

"Hey, did you hear?" Whispered by a brown-haired girl, talking to her friend while putting her hand on her checks.

"Hear what?" Her friend asked.

"About this?" She opened her phone and showed the picture to her friend. Her friend nodded her head and continued to talk about the doll.

"I heard that one of my friends from elementary owns that right now."

"Awesome, I bet that one is expensive. She really looks pretty"

"Indeed, very pretty, But I don't think that doll is expensive"

"Why?"

"I heard that it was sold cheap and there were some bad rumors going around about that doll, and now she is looking for someone who will keep it."

The conversation was cut off when their homeroom teacher had arrived. Telling them to sit and start to listen to the class.

Rumors had started to circulate, about the doll being a killer or someone's spirit had gone inside a doll's body. The rumors didn't stop being exaggerated as days goes by, and it kept on going and going. The rumor had started to reach a certain Fullbuster's attention, but he shrugged it off without showing interest and continued with his life, though he himself didn't know that he would be interested in the said doll in a few weeks later.


	20. Episode 19

_ 'She's mine and you know that.' _

Gray was sitting on his breath, sweating with ragged breathing, with eyes wide and skin cold, he looked around his room and found a sleeping Natsu beside him. Murmuring words as she twists and turns on her sleep.

It has already been a week since Natsu met the Straus siblings. But something had bothered him after that day they visited. It happened the next day when his mother had come to him for breakfast. "Who are you?" he heard the doll ask the older woman. Gray sat on his bed, with brows furrowed, while facing the confused doll.

"Oh, Gray! Morning!" the doll greeted him and stood up after noticing Ul's gaze at her. "Good Morning Mother!" she greeted with a grin as if she didn't forget the woman earlier.

Gray turned his eyes to his mother's puzzled eyes as well and told him they will be there. Grabbing for the dolls' attention, he took out his phone and showed her pictures of his friends.

"Natsu, do you know these guys?"

The doll stared at the pictures on the screen and turned back to Gray looking displeased at him. "Who do you think I am? of course I know them"

"Then do you remember the visitors yesterday?"

Natsu tilted her head to the side and asked, "We had visitors yesterday?"

Gray was frozen, staring at the doll in shock. He tried to tell the doll the names of the siblings, but the doll just looked at him perplexed. After a while, the doll got annoyed and blew fire towards the lad. After being let go, she left and ran towards the dining, only to be greeted by a shout that a surprised Lyon made.

Once he got to school, he told the Straus about Natsu forgetting them again, thus they made a plan to meet up during the weekend, with some of Natsu's friends at the orphanage.

With Natsu inside the bag, he made his way out of the house and started to head for their met up location. It didn't take long for Gray to arrive when he saw Mirajane and the others talking fondly. He was then greeted by them and was soon introduced to their company.

"So where's Natsu?" Sting asked curiously, looking around only to find no sign of Natsu.

"Well as we said, Natsu was cursed and was turned into a doll" It was Lisanna who explained again. Asking for Gray to let Natsu out from the bag he has been holding onto.

Curiously the couple raised their brows in wonder. It was then they saw a tiny Natsu, who was still sleeping comfortably now in Grays' arms. A nudge from Gray had woken Natsu up, sitting up from her sleeping position, she rubbed off the sleepiness from her eyes and yawned.

"What is it Gray?" she asked curiously while stretching her arms. Noticing some eyes on her, she turned her head to the source and was surprised to find two familiar faces, "Oh, it's a blond idiot" The doll claimed, very confused while tilting her head to the side. Sting tried to control his anger after it was explained to them both that Natsu doesn't remember anything.

Sting turned towards Lisanna and yelled in anger, "It doesn't seem like this Brute monkey forgot about us"

Natsu glared and stood up, with her tiny hand on her hips she scolded the blond man. After a few more hours of talking about their past and some arguing by Natsu and Sting, Natsu had enjoyed her time spent with them. She concluded that these new people are good people thus she immediately trusted them without any doubts. They then decided to go to a nearby park in a more secluded area, where people usually don't walk by after being stared at by people passing by, when the doll would move or talk.

They had fun, played some games, and talked about what she was like before when she was young. They tried to talk about her Uncle but a word from Natsu had Gray confused, Natsu doesn't remember her Uncle anymore. Natsu's face started to turn sour as she tried to remember who this 'Uncle' they are talking about.

This made Gray concerned and worried that she is slowly losing her memories when he clearly remembers that Natsu had told him about her Uncle. He was deep in his thoughts while staring at the doll with worry. He failed to notice a certain classmate that showed him hate the first time they met. Natsu was busy talking to Lisanna when the younger silver-haired woman raised his head from the presence behind the doll. Natsu turned her head, looking perplexed at the shadow hovering above her.

Hikaru had then smiled, and kneeled in front of Natsu. Raising a hand, she was about to grab for the doll's neck. But failed, as Gray had held on her wrist. Lisanna instantly grabbed for Natsu and secured her in front of her with a tight grip.

"Give her back" The girl demanded, raising her other hand to reach for Natsu.

The doll remained confused, as she tilted her head in wonder. Looking at the lass half-frozen, she was very curious about what was happening around her.

"She's mine" Hikaru chimed again, anger started to appear in her eyes as she demanded Natsu to be returned to her.

"No. She's not. She does not belong to you or to anyone."

With displeasure shown all over her face, her body started to turn into dark butterflies. Soon she was set free from the Ice user and flew towards Lisanna. Sting had used his electricity to fight off the insects but failed, as they just kept multiplying once one was gone.

Hikaru was then successful in grabbing Natsu when she used a knife to slash Lisanna's arm even after she had shifted her arm to steal like strength.

"You're finally back in my arms" she exclaimed with glee. Smiling happily at Natsu as she twirled around and raised the doll to the air.

Natsu stared at the girl holding her, something about her reminds her of a certain memory. She was afraid and she was not liking it. She then averted her tiny eyes to Gray pleading for help but failed to shout when she felt lips being pressed to her tiny lips. Her brain started to hurt when she felt like there's something that was trying to break her head in half. A gasp escaped her mouth when Hikaru had let her go and gave her a hug instead.

Elfman tried to charge towards the lady in black uniform, releasing a punch towards her, but her body had turned into butterflies. Gray used his 'Ice make' magic to solidify the butterflies, however, the lady countered it by using dark flames. She started to laugh again, when she landed back to the ground, avoiding kicks and swords being thrown her way.

The doll started to feel dread, as she was petrified by her situation. Raising her hands towards Gray again, she pleaded to him one more time. Hikaru was busy, twirling around with Natsu now raised up in the sky, starting to lose awareness around her. She pressed the doll back to her chest again, she smiled and raised the doll again while laughing happily. She was too late to realize it when someone had stolen the doll again away from her.

Gray held the doll tight on his arms, making the black-haired woman screech in anger. But something caught her eye and suddenly flew off for no reason.

They stared at the sky where the lady had suddenly left, feeling dumbfounded for the sudden change of events, they ran towards the raven-haired man with Natsu flushed and trembling in his arms.

"Natsu? are you okay?" Mirajane asked worriedly to the doll but got no response. Natsu remained silent as she held on her head, claiming that it hurts.

"Who the hell was that? Sting cursed, as he glared towards the sky. Turning his head sharply to Gray, he asked if he knew that person.

Gray nodded his head in response, stating that it was a transfer student from their class. Baffled by the response, he asked why she did that.

"I think it's quite obviously already Sting" Rogue stated, kneeling beside Gray to check on Natsu. "She was after Natsu and a definite possibility that she was the one who cursed Natsu"

"Then we need to catch her and force her to undo the curse"

"That's a good Idea" Lisanna called out and turned her attention to the blond man. "Just leave this to us. We'll ask the teacher about her when we get back to school"

Sting frowned and stared at his lover who nodded her head. "Fine, please contact us if you got any leads"

Gray nodded his head and decided to head home while being courted by them on his way. He didn't fail to notice the worried glances towards the sleeping doll on his arms once they entered their home.

A few hours later, Natsu was still asleep with a fever for weeks.

Three weeks had passed. The pink-haired doll could be found sitting up from the bed, breathing heavily with eyes wide as she stared at the wall. She was sweating a lot despite being a doll, but the dreams, or rather the memories, had come back as a dream. Reminding her of who she truly is.

With excitement and confusion mixed together. She turned to her side and shook the man beside her. She tried to call out his name, and indeed he woke up after she closed his nose with her tiny hands.

Gray had woken up from being unable to breathe in his sleep, reprimanding the lass beside him. He asked her what was wrong.

"I remembered who I am" was the dolls' words. With eyes wide, he stood up and asked him seriously.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I am" the doll exclaimed with worry in her eyes.

Gray noticed the frightened look on her. "Are you okay?"

Natsu just remained silent and shook her head. With a small smile planted on his lips, he patted her tiny head and told her to sleep. The doll just nodded her head and agreed. Lying back down to the bed, she turned to her side and faced the wall. With eyes wide, unable to sleep. She greeted the lad goodnight.

It was already morning when Gray had woken up, after feeling the doll, not by his side. Abruptly standing up from the bed, he looked around his room to find her sitting on his desk. He walked towards her and sat on the chair, staring at her figure while holding a picture of her Uncle.

"How could I forget him." She stated after remembering the events weeks ago.

Gray placed a hand on her back, and she suddenly turned and held on his wide hand. "everything is actually my fault. It's because I rejected her that I am cursed. Slowly losing my memories, even forgetting my Uncle who took care of me when I was young."

Gray remained silent as she listened to her talk. Grateful that her memories had come back to her.

"It was her!" Natsu suddenly claimed. "The girl that day. It was her that cursed me"

"What do you mean?" Gray asked at the doll with confusion. "You know that person?"

Natsu nodded her head, held on his hand. "Hey Gray, bring me to her. I want her to undo this curse" Gray pressed his lips, knowing that the transfer student had stopped coming to school after that incident. When a sudden thought came to his mind.

"Okay Natsu, tomorrow. I'll bring you to school to talk with someone"

The doll nodded her head eagerly, thanking Gray for helping her. Gray nodded his head and picked up the doll. "Let's go get breakfast" he smiled, earning a wide grin from the doll after hearing her tummy grumble.

They were already at the dining table eating their lunch when his adoptive brother had come in looking baffled at the doll sitting on the table. With brows furrowed, he walked closer to the table and observed the doll eating her meal with delight. Lyon raised a hand and poke the doll's tiny cheeks. He was amazed at how her skiing was hard to the touch. "Are you sure this is a doll?" he asked his little brother.

Gray drank from his glass, and cleared his mouth from the food. "isn't it obvious?"

"I know, but. I still can't believe that the rumored doll is actually real" he stated and sat down, his eyes still focused on the doll.

"Hey, you nudist!" Natsu called out while glaring at Gray's brother. "Didn't mother teach you not to stare at people when they eat? you nudist monkey"

Lyon could feel the twitch from his brows, as he tried to hide his anger through his smile. Turning his head to Gray, he spoke his words with gritted teeth. "Oh, Not only is this doll the rumored evil doll that I have been hearing a lot. But an ugly doll with poor manners as well"

Natsu glared and placed her food down back to the table. Standing up on the table, she glared at the man in front of him. "Huh? what was that? are you trying to pick a fight?"

"So what if I am? I can freeze you whenever you want"

Natsu threw fire at him with her mouth and smirked. "Why don't you give it a try then"

Annoyed, and aggravated by the doll, he was about to use his Ice magic on her. But was halted when their older sister and punch her brother by his head. "Why are you so noisy?" she asked, looking annoyed after being woken up from her sleep due to their shouting. She turned her head to the youngest and asked for her share. Gray nodded his head in response and sat down on the side of the table.

"Good morning Natsu" she greeted nonchalantly while waiting for her breakfast. she then turned back to Lyon, "Where's mom?"

"She already left" Her brother responded with a pout still glaring daggers at the pink-haired doll.

Sitting sleepily on the chair she nodded her head and started to eat when Gray placed her food in front of her. She started to eat her meal, not bothering about the argument between her brothers. Her eyes then trailed to the doll in front of her, who was concentrating on staring at her. She raised a brow. "Do you need something from me?"

Natsu pressed her lips to the side and thought about something. "Nothing, I just felt like I met you before I got turned into a doll, though I am not sure if it was you" she tilted her head and tried to remember where she met her.

Gray stood behind the doll and patted her head. "Come on, you don't have to think too hard about it. Your brain is too small for you to think hard about it"

Natsu nodded absentmindedly, seconds later her eyes widened from his words as she turned and glomped towards the youngest. "How dare you call my brain small. You slanted eye, pea brain bastard" she groaned in anger while throwing flames towards him.

Gray successfully evaded the fire and glared at the doll. "The hell, I was just concerned over your health"

"Shut up, you Shaved Ice Princess. I am not deaf. you just called me dumb"

"When have I ever you dumb Tabasco!" he responded while throwing ice towards her but she melted it with her fire.

"See, just now. You called me dumb"

Their small fight had turned into childish name-calling. Ultear continued to ignore the noise, while Lyon had rolled his eyes and left his clothes in the living room while heading back to his room.


	21. Episode 20

Natsu was currently hidden inside a bag, curling tight as she tried to be quiet as much as possible. She stayed tight-lipped, as she felt the bag moving around while being carried by Gray. Groaning at times, when she felt the young lad carried her carelessly as he ran in a hurry towards his school.

"Barely safe" she heard Gray's muffled voice after a loud bang.

"Gray? What's that?" she heard a familiar voice called out, but got ignored based on the words she heard in a second.

"I'll show it to you later. The class will be starting anyway"

"Fine." Lucy pouted, as she headed back to her table.

Later indeed, their teacher came after a minute with a loud yawn. Walking towards his desk in front of the class, he placed the attendance book on the table and started doing roll calls, without hearing his students' response. His class just stared at the older man already accustomed to their morning routine with their assigned homeroom teacher.

Hours had passed when the bell had already rung, the youngest of their teachers by the name Max Alors was already near the door as soon as the bell rang.

Gray kneeled at his bag on the floor and opened it slightly to peek inside. The smile that had formed on his lips was instantly gone when Lucy had gasped loudly behind him. In turn, the raven-haired man twitched from her voice, and immediately closed the bag and continued to hide it behind his back. Upon realizing who it was, he sighed in annoyance and scolded his friend from surprising him.

Lucy apologized and leaned over to her friend's ear. "Why is she here?" she asked with concern, wondering if Natsu has been selfish again. Gray shook his head and picked up the bag carefully in his arms. He then exited the classroom, after telling her his plans.

Lucy nodded his reason, agreeing that they might be able to ask for help with the principle regarding the transfer student.

It has already been weeks, after the incident where Natsu was almost taken away again. After the lady in black uniform had left suddenly, the next day and the day after. Hikaru hasn't been going to class. They did ask their teacher about it, but the teacher did not disclose any information about the sudden disappearance of the transfer student.

Heading towards the rooftop, Lucy decided to join him for lunch. Juvia, who was heading towards the cafeteria, had seen the two walking up the stairs leading to the rooftop. Angry with jealousy at the blond-haired woman, The rain user had made a detour, and followed them behind.

"Mind if I join you?" Juvia asked them, while glaring daggers at the shivering blond.

Lucy nodded her head repeatedly, after feeling the killing intent from her friend's eyes. Gray decided to ignore and sat at the floor, he then opened his eyes, and Natsu speedily popped out from the bag.

"Finally nice fresh air" she cheered loudly, earning a smack on her head.

"Be quiet or people might hear you"

The doll just rolled her eyes at him and greeted the two ladies in front of her. Looking at their lunchbox, she can't help but giggle at the loud demanding stomach.

"Natsu, don't tell me, you forced Gray again to bring you here?"

Natsu glared and denied being forceful, she then claimed that it was Gray's idea to help her.

"Not really. You did ask me first and I just agreed to it" The raven-haired man dismissed, after eating his lunch.

The doll earned a scolding from her friends, while she glared at the young man. Annoyed, she pouted and started to pick up a fight from the young lad. Almost an hour had passed when they finally filled their stomach with their meal, packing their empty lunch boxes, they decided to head back to their classroom since it won't be long till the bell will ring again.

Natsu had returned back inside the bag, snoring after being full. Gray had picked up his bag again, after making sure the doll was secured inside. They then left the rooftop, feeling grateful that no one had decided to have their lunch there during their break.

Hours passed, and Gray was starting to doze from his chair when he suddenly heard a loud groan coming from his bag. Wakaba, who was currently their teacher for the hour, had turned to the class to find the students' face turned towards a baffled Gray sitting awkwardly from his seat.

"Gray, don't tell me you fell asleep?" The brown-haired teacher asked, looking amused by what he just heard.

Gray shook his head in response and grabbed for his bag, and excused himself. Wakaba just tilted his head to the side, now confused but shrugged it off as he continued with his class.

The raven harried lad was running down the hallway while holding the bag tightly on his chest. While earning some scolding from teachers passing by. Gray shouted an apology in response but continued to run towards the toilet. Once he was inside, he locked the cubicle and opened the door to glare at an entertained looking doll, while trying to hold her laughter.

"You damn slanted eyes, didn't I tell you to behave?"

Natsu grinned without a care in his situation. "But I got bored. How many classes do you have left?"

Gray sighs in defeat and looks at his watch. "Just wait for three more hours, and will go later to meet that person, okay?"

With a pout on her lips, she went back to his bag looking dejected. "Come on. You want to find the whereabouts of the transfer student right? so bear with it, and three hours will pass in a jiffy" The doll nodded her head in turn, and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. you're so boring" she called out and sat back inside the bag while plopping a candy to her mouth.

The raven-haired man sweat dropped from her response but held himself from trying to pick a fight with her. Closing the bag halfway. He picked her up and went back to his classroom.

Unfortunately, Natsu had fallen asleep after an hour of doing nothing inside the bag, Gray was relieved though when he noticed how silent she was for the remaining hours of his classes. Two hours had passed, their final subject was already done. Stretching his muscle from sitting all day and unable to leave his table, as he got worried that Natsu might be up to something. Luckily, nothing happened.

"Gray. Are you going?" he heard Lucy asking him. He nodded his head in response and picked up his bags. Once he got out, he was curious about why Lucy had followed him on the way.

"Well, I want to help Natsu too, and I'm curious about this transfer student as well". Nodding his head, he just allowed her to follow him, not later though, Juvia had greeted them with Mirajane and Lisanna behind her, planning to visit the principal as well.

The raven-haired male chose not to care, as he allowed them to come as well. Once they reached the door, Gray knocked and was then asked to enter. Slowly opening the door, they went inside and were greeted by their short height principle.

"How can I help you?" the old man asked, after putting some papers to his table. Makarov averted his eyes to the student by his door, and his eyes widened from his visitors, looking happy.

"Oh, Mirajane and Lisanna. How have you been?"

The two white-haired ladies bowed their heads to the man they treated like a father. Returning the gestures with a smile, they were immediately asked to sit down together with the other three.

Gray was confused at the sisters how they knew the old man, but it was soon explained to him that he's the director of the orphanage house that they used to stay before the siblings left from his care.

"Oh, no wonder you act friendly with the principal whenever I see you talking to him" Juvia chimed in, understanding the closeness with the Straus and the Principal.

"Then, just want to make sure. You know anyone by the name 'Natsu Dragneel', right?" Gray hoped, holding on to the bag on his lap.

Makarov froze from his seat, with eyes wide, he asked the young man if he knew about her whereabouts. Gray nodded his head in response and placed the bag on the coffee table. The principal watches the young man place the heavy looking bag on the table and observe him zipping the bag open. He then wondered what the young man was about to show to him. But was shocked with surprise evident in his eyes after seeing a familiar face in a toddler life-sized doll.

Natsu yawned from the bag and raised her hands to stretch her muscles. Standing up from the bag, she turned towards Gray and asked about the principal. Gray just pointed out where they currently are. The pink-haired doll turned her head and immediately formed a smile on her lips, after seeing the old man after many months.

"Oh, Old man. It's been a while" she cheered, walking in haste towards the older man and jumped to his table.

Makarov stared in disbelief, as he watched a little Natsu on his table talking happily to him. Tears started to gather in his eyes, for seeing the cheery child that he's been looking for months, looking good and healthy despite being so small. Mirajane stood up from the couch and handed the old man the tissue. Makarov took a piece and wiped his eyes. He heard the doll teased him, but didn't pay any attention, as he was happy and overwhelmed to know that she was safe.

Without words coming out, he placed his palms under her armpit and wrapped her in a hug. Natsu was confused but nevertheless returned the gesture. It wasn't a minute later when she was placed back on his desk and was immediately smack on her head.

"Natsu, you idiot! Where have you been? What have you got yourself into? Didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers? Now, look at you. You're so tiny. Tiny than me"

The pink-haired doll felt the pain in her head. Placing her palms on her head, she glared at the older man and retorted back. "Shut up old man. It's not my fault, I was just on my way home when this lady cursed me. Blame it on her"

After hearing her say 'Cursed by a lady'. His eyes widened and realized something. He then placed a hand in between his brows and hoped that it wasn't the case. The Sakurai Family has been well known for curses and dark magic. He was aware of them being able to turn bodies into something else, but years had passed they decided to seal that particular spell ever since one of their family members had abused her power, and slowly started to lost her mental stability due to placing curses to anyone she hates and soon ended her own life without a thought.

Pressing her lips, he asked if Natsu knew who the lady was. The doll nodded her head aggressively, "I know her, and Gray told me that she's in this school. I want to talk to her, have her this curse undone"

Makarov felt the anger and impatience in her eyes, he sighed and drank his water before speaking up.

"She's currently not here Natsu"

"What do you mean?"

"That girl hasn't been coming to class for weeks already"

"But why?"

"I don't have any idea as well. I just suddenly received a call from her aunt weeks ago, that her niece hasn't been home in a while. They are currently trying to find her, but unfortunately no news from the missing girl yet"

Natsu stilled on the ground, starting to lose hope in her eyes after hearing the disappearance of the witch. But it wasn't long when she turned to Gray, "Then let's go and find her" She suggested with excitement in her eyes. "With my nose, I can smell her scent if I have something that I can pick up her scent from" She then turned back to the principal, "Hey old man. Do you have some things that she used to have?" she asked dumbly while tilting her head to the side.

Makarov started to laugh from her question, while others chuckled from her proposal. Natsu tilted her head to the side and asked them what was wrong.

"Come on Natsu, it's not that easy to find the leads of the transfer student" Gray sighed.

"That's right Natsu. Don't worry though I can ask Gajeel to help me with that" It was Juvia who chimed in, earning the Principal's attention.

"You know Gajeel?" Makarov asked curiously. The blue-haired lady nodded her head in response, stating that they have been friends since they were babies.

"I see. I see. How is he now?" The old man asked curiously, smiling from hearing her friend's name.

"He's doing good, I heard that he's been working with someone lately"

"That's good. Though if you contact him. please tell him to contact me as well" he smiled warmly at the student. Juvia just nodded her head in confusion and wondered if they knew each other. She was about to ask him that, but opted not to, after hearing the doll currently having another argument with the raven-haired lad. Mirajane laughed on the couch, while her sister was grinning happily at the sight.

"I'm glad that you haven't changed Natsu" The old man smiled and patted the dolls head, Natsu then felt herself grinning and placed her tiny hands on the sides of his hand still on her head.

Makarov cleared his throat and took his hand back, he then shuffled around his cabinet as he spoke to the student. "Unfortunately I don't have any of her possessions. But I know someone who can help you. Also, this someone has been looking for you"

Natsu perked up and waited for the old man while he was writing something on a piece of paper. She then watched him place his pen back down to the table and smiled at the doll while handing her a piece of paper. "Also, your Uncle has been looking for you Natsu"

Natsu's eyes widened from his statement, turning to the old man she asked where her Uncle was.

"I am not certain about his current location, but if you will contact this person's number on the paper. She might be able to give you some leads about the transfer student and your Uncle."

Natsu smiled and looked at the number on the paper, turning her attention to Gray; she immediately demanded him to make the call.

"Though I am not exactly sure why that person is looking for you. I only got a word that once I see you, I must give you her number to call"

The pink-haired doll nodded her head, excited on talking with this person the old man spoke of.

More than half an hour had already passed when they were talking about their past and about her Uncle, it wasn't long when Elfman intruded while asking the principal about his siblings, only to be surprised to find them talking with him.

"Big Sis, Lisanna. I've been looking for you" The buff lad called out. Mirajane smiled and stood up from the couch.

"Then, I think it's about time we head home" The others agreed as they bowed at the older man and bade him farewell. Gray opened the bag for Natsu to hide in, after making sure she was sitting comfortably he closed the bag.

"Oh, before that Gray. Please do keep me updated about Natsu"

Gray nodded his head and bowed again before closing the door.

Lisanna stood in front of Gray and asked if she could speak with Natsu. The lad allowed the older student and opened the bag for her to peek inside. Natsu averted her gaze towards the lady in front of her and smiled. Lisanna returned her smile and grabbed for the doll, and wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm so glad you finally remembered us Natsu"

Natsu felt a tingling feeling inside her and wrapped her arms back around her friend.

"I'm sorry for making you worry Lisanna" Natsu muttered back while averting her eyes to the older sister, looking happy and teary-eyed.

"Indeed, Natsu. You made us worry when you suddenly went missing a year ago, that's not very manly you know"

The doll chuckled at his words, stating that she's not a guy.

"But no need to worry this time. We'll make sure that you will be within our reach as long as you stay by Gray's side, okay?" Mirajane stated, earning a flushed Gray.

"Of course. Gray loves me a lot, he won't leave me alone" came a statement from a very proud Natsu.

It was already night time when Natsu had persisted in making Gray do the call. Sighing in defeat, the young lad took out his phone and dialed the number on his. After three rings, they could hear a soft voice speaking on the other line.

"Hello, I apologize for disturbing your time. But I got your phone number from Principal Makarov" Gray said over the phone, sounding unsure for some reason.

"Oh? Is that so? May I ask why?"

Natsu stood near the phone, and spoke confidently, "My name is Natsu Dragneel, and he said to give you a call"

There was silence over the other line and later heard a gasp, they could hear uncertain in the voice when they asked. "Are you really Natsu?"

The doll replied with a 'yes' with a bit of annoyance in her tone for having to clarify her identity.

"Then may I ask what's the name of your sibling?" The other line asks, making the two listeners wonder what they meant. Natsu looked at the phone confused and tilted her head to the side. She let out a groan as if she was thinking, then spoke up. "Wait, I don't have a brother. I only have Igneel" she responded after a few seconds.

The other line went silent and chuckled later on. "Looks like you are Natsu. Do you mind if we meet each other by the weekend?" she asked.

The doll enthusiastically agreed and asked when they could meet. But the other line cut her off, and asked something else, "By the way Natsu, who was that person I spoke with earlier?"

"That was Gray" the doll turned to her companion and gestured for him to speak.

"Gray, if you don't mind. Please come with Natsu when you come to visit"

The young lad agreed and asked for what time they will meet, but the other line just said not to worry as they will have someone pick them up by ten on a Sunday morning. They ended the call a few minutes later and went back to their room.

They were busy talking about the date and the time when they failed to notice Ul entering the living room.

"Are you going out on a date?" she teased, earning a flushing Gray as he went back to his room. Natsu stayed on the couch and shook her head to her response.

"Too bad!" Ul said, sounding disappointed.

0o0o0

"It's alright. She said they will be coming here on Sunday. Though are you sure that you shouldn't see her yet?" she asked her husband through a video call.

The man on the other end remained silent, weighing his options as he gave it a thought, but decided not to. "It's okay. A time will come when I can meet her. Also, I am waiting for him to return. It would be good if we can be completed again."

"If that's what you want. I'll just send you regards to her then when she arrives." she smiled towards him, earning a nod. Her husband was about to end the call, but she called his attention again.

"I just spoke with Makarov just now" she pressed her lips, "and it seems like. Natsu got herself on the same predicament as your parents and unfortunately, she got cursed"

He froze from her words and asked what she meant. "I do have a hunch that this is related to what happened to your parents"

"I see, then the sooner the better"

"Yup, so please come home. The twins already missed you a lot"

The man smiled from the screen and chuckled. "I know, tell them I'm sorry and I'll be home soon"

The young mother just sighed and nodded her head, he waved her hand towards him and ended the call.

A black-haired man sighed tiredly, as he stared at the picture of his parents with his sister. Picking up his phone, he sent a mail to his Uncle about Natsu.


	22. Episode 21

It was already Sunday when Gray and Natsu were picked up at exactly ten in the morning from their house. Watching in awe as they looked at the car and the house in front of them. They were greeted by a blond woman, in her early thirties. The woman in front walked closer to the doll in the man's arms. She placed both her hands on her face and observed.

"I can see the resemblance." She smiled and stood properly.

The two arrivals could notice two blond hair poking from the door, noticing them looking behind her. She turned around and called for her sons. Two seven-year-old looking children came out from their hiding place, grinning shyly as they were introduced by their mother.

"These are my childrens. This one is August, and the other is Larcade"

The young lads smiled and bowed towards their guests. "Nice to meet you Aunt Natsu" they chorus and grin at the doll. Though the one by the name Larcade walked closer to Gray and observed his so-called aunt in his arms.

"Mommy, is this really father's sister? Why is she a doll?"

"Isn't it cool, to have an aunt as a doll!" the other grinned while jumping towards the doll.

Mavis sighed at her sons and apologized to their visitors. Calling one of their helpers to take care of her sons for now. Larcade disagreed stating he wants to play with his aunt but followed his mother's instructions. While August just nodded his head and went towards the helper, to ask for food.

Gray and Natsu are currently dumbfounded when they hear the twins calling Natsu an Aunt. Averting his gaze to the doll, he asked if she had a brother.

"No, as far as I remember. I only had Igneel when I was a baby, though he did tell me that I had parents but I didn't hear anything about a brother."

Mavis smiled and agreed. "That's because your brother left home when he turned fifteen. Though he did keep in touch with your parents and heard that his mother was pregnant. But he didn't learn that you were alive until he heard it from Uncle Igneel."

Natsu looked at her stunned, "Igneel, do you know where Igneel is?"

Mavis nodded her head, "Though is it okay if we will continue this conversation in the living? I also invited someone as well, hoping that she could help you with the curse"

Natsu smiled and agreed, turning her attention back to Gray, who smiled back at her.

Once they sat down, Mavis drank from her cup and smiled at her childrens who were now busy playing puzzles on the kitchen table. Natsu, who was also looking at the kids, turned her attention to the mother and was about to ask her a question.

"Well, I bet you have tons of questions right now. But first I would like to introduce myself first."

They both nodded.

"My name is Mavis Dragneel. I married your brother, Zeref nine years ago." she smiled at the bewildered faces of her guest. Natsu stared at her with confusion and shock.

"Wait, I have a brother?"

Mavis nodded her head and pointed to a wide framed picture at the top of the fireplace. Natsu turned towards the picture and gaped at their wedding picture.

"That is my brother?"

She nodded again and stood up to pick up a picture of her husband's parents. She handed them and observed the doll's reaction.

"This guy looks a lot like Igneel"

The older woman chuckled at her expression, "Well I heard that it's because you Father and Igneel are twins"

Natsu averted her gaze to the blond woman looking lost from his explanation.

"So Igneel is really my Uncle?" she stated dumbly, making the other two spit their tea.

"Wha-, isn't that why you call Igneel 'Uncle'? Gray clarified, looking unamused at the doll.

Natsu responded to him with a grin, "Well, he said he didn't want to be called 'Dad', or an 'Old man'. So I called him 'Uncle'. But I didn't think that I am actually his niece"

"Are you an idiot?" Gray commented. Natsu glared and started to have a bicker with her friend, the blond woman was amazed by their closeness and started to chuckle from their name callings. She cleared her throat to gain their attention, which they both listened to and sat properly.

"Anyways. I think I know the reason why you are eager to come here" She drank from her tea, and placed it back down at the table. "That is why I asked a friend of mine, who is a relative to someone who might be able to help you". As soon after she said that, a helper came to their view and announced the arrival of her friend, telling him to lead her in, the old man nodded his head and went back to the visitor waiting at the front.

A black-haired woman arrived with freckles on her face, smiling towards her friend she gave her a hug and sat down. She averted her eyes to the two young visitors and was startled at the moving doll. After seeing the doll, the black-haired woman felt gloom realizing what was happening.

Natsu gazed back at the woman, looking at her face, she couldn't help but felt like she already met her before. She wanted to ask, but the woman had already spoken before her.

"So she used the restricted curse" she mumbled to herself. "I am Hikaru Sakurai's Aunt, Hinata" the woman smiled.

Mavis turned to her visitors and introduced them to her friends. After speaking Natsu's name, Hinata's face turned blue.

Gray and Natsu stared at the woman confused when she suddenly apologized to the two. The raven-haired lad frowned his brows and asked what she meant.

"Hikaru had used illegal magic on you Natsu" she explained, and sighed again sadly. "Our family has been part of studying black magic centuries ago and have been using it in our daily lives. Unfortunately, an ancestor of mine had learned how to turn people's bodies to what we desired. However, there are some consequences every time it is used"

"and that is?" Gray asked curiously.

"We lose our minds to insanity"

Gray frowned at her explanation but continued to listen.

"It was two decades ago when my Grandfather had abolished using dark magic completely. After my young sister at that time, unconsciously put a curse on our Grandmother due to anger. It did stop my sister from using her powers after being weighed with guilt for turning our Grandmother into a wooden doll. Luckily, Grandfather was able to turn her back to her original body, but it was as if she was dead. My grandmother had become an unmoving human, not eating, blinking, speaking. I sometimes doubt if she was breathing."

There was silence when she drank from the tea her friend offered her. She then turned her attention to the doll and observed her features. She smiled sadly, "and again we have caused you so much trouble"

Natsu frowned and tilted her heads to the side. Asking what she meant.

"My sister fell in love with your father"

"You know my father?"

The black-haired woman shook her head, "I don't actually. I only know him by his last name, which was 'Drageneel' and I only knew a few people who go by that name. Also, you are an exact photocopy of him as well. So I can that you are his daughter"

"Wait a minute." Gray suddenly spoke, brows furrowed as he glared at the raven-haired woman. "You just said that your sister turned your Grandmother into a doll. But once she was back to normal. She-" He bit on his lips, scared to admit what he just realized.

The woman looked at him sadly and nodded her head.

"I am afraid to say this, but Natsu received a curse that killed my Grandmother"

Gray fell into shock as he leaned back to the couch, staring at Natsu, who was looking dread from what she just heard. Mavis could feel her skin turn cold, as she feared for her husband's sister's fate.

"However, there is still a chance that she could live"

"What do you mean, Hinata?" Mavis asked intrigued, wanting to know possible action to avoid killing the young girl.

"When my Grandfather turned our Grandmother back into a human, he used his own blood to undo the spell" She smiled worriedly, "Since any member with a Sakurai blood running on their veins could undo the curse. However, that could lead you into the same situation as my grandmother"

Hinata averted his eyes to the young man, "But if we can have Hikaru undo her curse to you. You should be able to turn back normally. However, if Hikaru refuses and you are able to obtain her blood. I can use that to undo the curse, however, it is not a hundred percent possible for you to turn back to normal."

Natsu gulped down her saliva, as she tried to process her words. She frowned her brows in confusion and turned her attention to Gray. "Gray, so basically I have to catch this witch and beat her to a pulp so she can turn me back into a human, right?" Gray deadpan from her words, while Mavis just chuckled. She then turned back to the aunt and asked rudely, "So where is this witch?"

Hinata sweatdropped from the nickname given to her niece, but she can't blame her, since her family had caused them problems ever since her sister met him.

"Unfortunately, Hikaru hasn't returned back to my house for weeks already. But my husband and I are trying to find her. Don't worry though once we get leads about my niece, I'll be sure to contact you so we can undo the curse."

Natsu pressed her lips to the side and nodded. Taking a big bite from the cookie beside her, she started to feel comfortable. "Fine then. Be sure to call me if she gets back".

Gray just stared at the doll in disbelief. He let out a scoff as he was starting to get annoyed with her acting care-free. But since they currently have no clues about the missing girl, he begrudgingly agreed and handed her his phone number so the woman can give him a call whenever they find Hikaru.

"Mommy, are you done yet?"

There was a call from Larcade, looking unamused and annoyed. Mavis turned towards her son to find her twins covered in mud and barefooted. her blood had drained as she stared at the situation of their new clothes that she just bought yesterday.

"Larcade, August. What happened to you two?" she scolded her boys, who are acting as if they are already used to it. With a sigh, Mavis can't help, and just sighed in defeat. She stood up from the couch and excused herself, she then led her son to the bathroom to help clean themselves.

After Hinata had promised to help them out with undoing the curse, Natsu was still staring back at her. Hinata turned her eyes to her and wondered if she wanted to ask something.

"Have I met you before?" She asked curiously, earning Gray's attention. Hinata was perplexed by what she meant since she knows this is the first time that she met her. It was then later, that Natsu remembered.

> _"How about you little girl? Do you like girly clothes?" A black-haired woman asked the young Natsu. The pink-haired girl just stared at the woman innocently. Thinking that this woman knows her Uncle. Natsu nodded her head and smiled._
> 
> _"Oh my, such a sweet smile. I hope my daughters would smile as you do" she commented_

With a gasp, Natsu pointed her finger towards her. "You're that woman who talked with me when I was with my Uncle".

Hinata tilted her head to the side, confused. Gray raised his brows and asked what the doll meant.

"It was a very long time ago, so I can't remember clearly. Though you look older than back then. But I am sure that was you" Natsu claimed, smiling at the woman.

The raven-haired woman placed her palms on her cheeks. She then remembered about her sister telling her about meeting her crush with a baby on his arms. "Oh, you must mean my sister then?"

"Sister?"

"My sister and I look a lot like each other, though we aren't twins. Our age gap is just eleven months"

Gray was a bit shocked by her response, earning the older woman's attention. "Well, my parents love each other so much." she chuckled and drank her tea. "Though my sister already died years ago, when Hikaru was still six. That's the reason why Hikaru is in my care." She placed the cup back to the table and sighed. "-and now, I am starting to worry if she's following her mother's footsteps."

"What do you mean?"

Hinata wanted to tell them what happened but thought that it's not appropriate for the doll to know about her parents. she smiled sadly and sighed. "She decided to take her own life, after losing herself from using the illegal magic repeatedly".

Natsu and Gray fell into silence as they ate the cookie on their hands. Luckily it wasn't long until Mavis came back again with her freshly dressed sons running amok around the living. The blond-haired woman turned to her visitors if they wanted a new tea. But Hinata had refused and stated that she needed to leave.

Gray was about to inform them that they should leave as well, but Mavis turned her head to him, "I don't think Natsu wants to leave now, right?" she averted towards the doll, who was now standing on the table and nodded her head. Hinata smiled at the young students, and bid them well and once again promised to contact them immediately once she got a hold of her runaway niece. Mavis had courted her to her front door and waved her hand. The helper had then closed the door once their visitor had left in her car.

Mavis went back to the living, chuckling at her son talking with their aunt. Asking staff and poking at her cheeks and arms. she cleared her throat earning the little boys' attention. Both boys then turned and left them alone, after taking the plate of cookies on their hands. The helper soon came and placed the new set of cookies on their table instead.

The blond harried woman smiled, "I bet you want to ask where your Uncle is, right?"

Natsu nodded her head. "Also, since you said that I have a brother. I am also curious about meeting him."

Mavis widens her smile from her response, happy that his little sister is intrigued about her own brother. "Actually, they are abroad right now due to work. Though my husband told me that they might return a month from now, though I am not exactly sure when will it be due to their work"

"Oh. Then do you have the means on how to contact them?"

Mavis pressed her lips together before speaking. "No, I actually don't"

Gray frowned at her answer, unable to accept that she is not able to contact her husband.

"I don't have ways to contact them, but my husbands call me whenever he can"

"Oh!" Natsu smiled "I see. it's alright, as long as I know that they are alive. I can still meet them when they arrive back" The doll grinned towards the lady, who nodded her head in agreement.

It was another half a minute passed when Gray offered that they should go home. The doll nodded her head and waited for Gray to pick her up off the table. While Mavis had asked the helper to bring them back to their home.

Once Natsu was settled on his arms, she turned to her sister in law and nephews to take care. The little boys waved towards their tiny arms and asked to promise that they will play with them again soon. The doll just grinned and nodded her head, before jumping inside the car that will be bringing them home.


	23. Episode 22

A Black-haired man was seen standing in front of a gravestone, his throat clutching as he persevered to hold his tears back. His hand was holding on to his two-year-old son, watching the grave with his Mother's name on it. The little boy raised his head to look at his father, and raised a brow in confusion, wondering what they are doing there.

He looked down at the grass and saw a little flower, he tried to reach out using his other hand. But the grip from his father was too tight for him to reach. Pouting, he used his other hand to pry his hands away from his father.

Silver was absent-minded when his little boy had tried to let go, averting his eyes to his son on the ground, who was now picking at the flower. He cleared his throat as he asked what he was doing.

"Mama loves Flowers" he claimed, as he piled them in front of the grave.

Silver bit his lips, tears gathering in his eyes again, as he watched the boy decorate his mother's grave. He sniffed and took a napkin to wipe his eyes from the tears. He forced a smile on his lips, as he squatted down to his boy.

"You're right. Mama loves flowers a lot" he said as his brows started to frown, tears finally falling in his eyes as he hugged his son and cried on his back.

Gray was surprised and confused, worried about his father suddenly crying, he turned around and wrapped his tiny arms around his neck. He then patted his father's back, as he chimed the words his mother used to tell him when he cried.

"There, there. It's alright. Pain, pain fly away"

Silver can't help but chuckle at the little boy's words, nodding his head, he took a napkin and wiped his eyes from the tears. He sniffed and placed his arms under his son's bum. Carrying him, as he looked at the gravestone again and said his farewell.

"Come on Gray, tell Mama that we will see her later"

The little boy nodded his head and turned to the gravestone. He then raised a hand and waved, smiling as he said goodbye to his mother. Minutes later, Silver finally had the courage to leave.

Years have passed and Gray is already thirteen. After his wife's death, Silver made sure that his Son was well fed and taken care of properly. His days are usually spent working till five in the afternoon only. Since he never wished for his son to come home with no one in the house to welcome him. The feeling of being alone is something he didn't want his young son to experience. Him being alone during his younger days was enough.

Silver was already in his house, preparing their dinner. Humming to himself as he mixed the vegetables and meat on the pan. After making sure that it was up to their taste, he turned off the stove and covered it for a while. He then went into the fridge and took his favorite popsicle from the freezer.

It wasn't long later when his son arrived, hearing his son taking off his shoes, he walked inside and greeted his father.

"Gray. How was your day?" he asked cheerily while munching on his popsicle.

The young lad just rolled his eyes and sighed at his father. "It was fine. Though I thought you won't be home till eight tonight?"

Silver frowned and ruffled his son's hair while hugging his small body. "Why? Aren't you happy that Papa is home early?"

Gray sweatdropped from his words and groaned. "Stop that. I'm not a kid anymore"

Silver smiled at his son and patted his head. Standing properly on his feet, he turned and asked his son to prepare the plates. Gray complied and took out clean dishes from the cupboard. Later when their meal had already been prepared, Silver felt something painful, earning a worried look from his son.

"Old man. are you okay?"

Silver drank from his glass of water and exhaled. "I'm fine, just choked down" he lied and picked up his silverware. He started to eat while nudging his son to start eating. Gray just chuckled from his response and started to eat as well. Silver observed his son eat his meal, despite his son not saying anything about his meals. He can always see it in his expression that he loves it a lot.

"Glad that you like it." he teased.

Gray widened his eyes and averted away from his father with a blush.

The next day, Gray was on his way to school when he woke up with his breakfast, a packed lunch, and a note on top of his packed lunch. Chuckling to himself, he sat on the table and started to eat. His eyes traveled back to the note and smiled again.

After he was done with his meal, he placed the used dishes on the sink and picked up his lunch box. He bid goodbye to his mother first at the altar and soon left after making sure the door was locked. Exiting his house, he could see blond hair by his gate and a phone. He sighed and called out her name.

"Morning Lucy!"

"Oh! Morning Gray" she smiled awkwardly, eyes averting away from him.

"-and may I ask what are you doing with your phone?"

Lucy froze and hid her phone behind her back, she tried to leid but failed, as the young man was staring intensely at her. She gulped down her saliva and smiled awkwardly again. She then raised a hand in a salute and started to run.

"It's all Juvia's fault" she cried while running away from the young man. Gray was annoyed by her reaction and started to run after her, in an attempt to get her phone and delete those pictures that she just took.

They both arrived gasping for air inside the classroom, while glaring daggers at each other. Gray had still tried to reach out for her phone but failed as she had placed it inside her shirt. Smirking Lucy turned to him with her tongue stuck out. "You can't get it anymore" she cheered sticking out her tongue again in a teasing manner.

However the raven-haired lad just sighed and dipped his hand inside her shirt, and successfully took the phone out between her breasts. There was silence in the room when Gray acted as if nothing happened. Lucy was shocked and red in embarrassment and soon cried as she ran towards her close friend, Cana.

"Hey, Gray. That was sexual harassment"

Gray just raised his brow though and sighed. "What sexual harassment? Those are just lumps of meat" he stated without care and went to his seat. Some of his classmates though were already used to their casual fight or acting, since the three have been friends since they were toddlers.

"Seriously Gray, that's not how you should treat a lady" Jet grinned while draping his arms around him. "You should treat them with care and respect."

"That's right" Cana agreed, nodding her head.

"Whatever, Lucy is just Lucy, and anyways everything has been her fault for taking pictures of me."

"What do you mean?" The two asked curiously. Lucy who was now ashamed had excused herself and went to her seat.

The two gasped from the pictures in her gallery. The album was filled with Gray in his room, taking off his pants. using the toilet, and lots of stolen pictures of him.

"Lucy, don't tell me you've been stalking Gray?" Cana feared, watching at the pictures being deleted by Gray.

Lucy jumped from her seat, face red. She ran towards her friend in an attempt to take back her phone but the lad had raised his hand, making it unable for her to reach. Lucy's tears started to gather, as she blamed Juvia again for her situation.

Soon Juvia opened the door, "Lucy, where are the pictures that I asked you?" Juvia tilted her head to the side and saw her crush standing hands above his head, while Lucy was trying to reach from the device on his phone.

"Did something happen?" she asked curiously, acting as if she didn't just speak what she had asked for Lucy.

Lucy was about to approach her but their teacher had come in, a bit annoyed from the commotion they are causing. They watched their teacher sit on his desk, and continued to doze off in his sleep. His students stared at their teacher a bit surprised but went to their chairs and continued talking to their friends.

Lucy who was glaring daggers at her childhood friend, for not returning her phone to her.

It was already lunchtime when Lucy got her phone back, hugging it in her arms, she promised not to let it go. Gray just rolled his eyes at her for being overdramatic. Opening his lunch box, he started to eat his meal happily.

"Oh, as expected of Uncle. He even used magic to make sure the Shaved Ice doesn't melt" The blond girl exclaimed while looking at the box of Ice beside Gray's lunch.

"Oh, I want to try that Gray" Juvia smiled, leaning her body to Gray as she attempted to steal from his lunch. Though the young lad didn't mind as long as she stepped back and sat properly. Juvia formed a pout, knowing her advances had failed. She then glared at the blond woman, who was exchanging lunches with Gray. Soon, Jet and Droy arrived with their packed punch on their hands, sitting at the vacant seat in front of them, they started to dig on their meal, without failing to tease Gray about his harem.

"Oh, by the way. Did you hear that some volleyball girls will be here later for a practice match with our team?" Jet sneered, his eyes looking disgusting as he tried to form a girls' body with his hands.

"Didn't you say to respect girls?" Gray chuckled at his friend, who turned red.

"That is that, and this is this" He was trying to hold his fuse, before blowing up at Gray. "You're so unfair, Gray. Putting your hands inside Lucy's breast. Lend me your hand, let me feel Lucy's breast" The orange harried lad claimed, earning a slap from Lucy for being disgusting.

"Seriously Jet, there are times that you can be disgusting" His childhood friend, Droy claimed while eating his meal.

Gray was already done eating when he decided to leave first, turning his head to them. He excused himself and started to head to the toilet. He was busy washing his hands after releasing the urge to pee. When a door opened from an occupied cubicle and came out was a pink-haired girl staring back at him.

Her eyes were wide, with brows furrowed. She was about to scold him for using the girl's comfort room. When the lad pointed to the men's urinals that don't belong to a girl's comfort room. She felt her cheeks turn red, and she chuckled from her mistake. Placing her hand to her short hair, she was faking a laugh, as she stepped back and excused herself only to bump into another student.

"Eh? A girl?" the student muttered in surprise, there was a grin on his face though when he noticed Gray's presence.

"What do we have here. Gray, you're bringing girls to the toilet?" the silver-haired lad teased. Gray just rolled his eyes at him. "That's not it, she came before me, and accidentally used the wrong toilet"

"Is that so? I'm gonna tell Uncle" he teased as he washed his hands in the sink.

"Whatever" Gray responded and left.

The raven-haired lad was already on his seat, laying down when he heard his friends' voice coming closer. He could hear them talking about the volleyball girls from the other school who arrived earlier and will have a practice match. He raised a brow though, wondering why they can't just wait until class is over, but he doesn't care. He closed his eyes and wandered back to the girl he met just now.

'So she must be from that school then' he thought and started to remember her features. Gray was focused on imagining her face again in his mind, that he failed to her Jet calling for him again.

"Gray, you've been ignoring us a lot lately" Jet complained.

"Not really"

"hmm. Don't tell me you found a girl?"

"and where did that come from?"

"Well earlier, Lyon said that you fell in love" Droy added, smiling towards his friend. Earning Juvia's attention and was then fighting about Gray's crush. Tears gathered in Juvia's eyes, as she punched Droy on his stomach. Droy instantly covered his stomach as he repeatedly said sorry to Juvia.

Gray wasn't sure, but they might be right. He felt a heat coming up to his cheeks as he remembered her face chuckling awkwardly again, he placed a palm over his head, unable to accept that he fell in love at first sight.

Gray was on his way home when he suddenly felt someone had grabbed his shoulder, turning around he was surprised to see Lyons' worried face. He was about to ask what, but the lad just grabbed him and hurried their way to somewhere else. Thinking that Lyon might be up to something, but he could see the seriousness on the older lad's face. He was looking around where they were heading until they reached a hospital. He was then confused when he could see Ul in the emergency room.

Ul had run towards Gray and warped her arms around him. The realization had hit him and hoped that he was wrong. Once Ul had let go, his body was shaking and his heart was beating. Scared that he might lose his father this time. He leaned on his elbows to his knees as he hoped that everything is just a joke and that they are only pranking him.

But later, the doctor came out and asked for someone who he can discuss, about the patient's health.

Gray felt dread as he saw his father come out from the emergency room, looking white as a sheet and some wires attached to him. His eyes widened as he bit his tears, hoping that his father is just fine. Lyon who was beside him placed his arms over his shoulder for comfort, and it was the first time in years since Gray had leaned to him.

A week had already passed since that incident, and Gray could be seen cutting an apple for the patient. Silver who was sitting down in his hospital with a drip attached to the back of his hand.

"Seriously old man, if you're tired you can rest you know."

Silver chuckled, "Sorry, I was so into this project right now. I forgot to take a rest"

"Seriously? you even leave work early just to make sure that someone is home when I got home"

Silver was surprised and chuckled in embarrassment, "So you know?"

"Of course I would" Gray sighed and placed the peeled apple on his father's adjustable table.

An hour later, Ul had arrived and brought food, Gray greeted his aunt and they started to dig in. Silver could only watch them in jealousy though as they eat delicious meals in front of him, while he has to make do with the hospital meal for him.

"Then I'll go home first, I'll come back tomorrow old man" Gray smiled and closed the door as he left. Ul who was staying behind waved her hand to him and smiled. One they made sure that Gray was out of earshot. Ul sighed and stared at Silver looking annoyed.

"Are you serious about this?"

But she got no response.

"You know there is still a possibility that you'll make it through"

"No, I can tell that my health is declining Ul." He sighed and signed the adoption papers on his table. "So once I die, I'll leave Gray in your hands. Also, I left enough money to support him until he graduates college and lives on his own when the time comes. So, I'll leave Gray in your hands."

"Who cares about the money. Why don't you live for Gray?"

"and you think that I don't want to?"

Ul turned silent as she watched his eyes, with a sigh she nodded her head and signed the papers as well.

A month had already passed and Gray continued to visit his father. As days passed on, he could notice his father getting weaker every day. He would sometimes have fevers for a week and better the next day. His father was rapidly getting thinner by the day and had started eating less.

He sat beside his father's bed and stared at his sleeping form. He placed his hand over his and grasped it.

"Hm? What's this missing Papa?" Silver smiled weakly to his child, earning a muffled chuckle from him.

"Shut up"

"What's wrong Gray?"

The raven-haired lad and smiled towards his Dad. "Nothing, I just want you to get better"

The older man smiled softly as he tightly clutched his son's hand as much as he could. He could see the worried look on his boy as he stared at the boy watched at his hand. Gray couldn't help but let a tear fall from his eyes, realizing his father is getting worse each day.

"You better take care of yourself, Gray. Mama and Papa love you very much" The old man smiled as he went back to sleep.

Another month had passed, when his father suddenly died. His body wasn't able to keep up due to overstress and his body was failing him rapidly. It was only then after his death that he heard, his father would go to work late at night and come back home at five in the morning to prepare his breakfast, and leave again once he went to his school.

Staring at the papers in front of him about his father's last will. He was mourning from his loss when Ul had told him everything about his father that he wasn't aware of. "You could have just asked me to help you. Who cares about money if you're not here. Damn old man." he muttered to himself, but Ul heard him clear.

She reached out her hand to him, as she grabbed him for a tight hug. It was only then that Gray had finally cried loudly.

A week had passed by after his father's funeral, packing up his bags and placing them at the back of the van. He decided to leave his home for now, as the pain from losing his father still hurts him most. Agreeing on staying with his Aunt, he looked at his home for the last time and then went inside the van.

Each day Gray was healing from his loss, it wasn't easy for him to do so. As everything he does reminds him of his father. Gray placed the memorial tablet of his Mom and Dad on top of his cabinet, as he watched them longingly. Placing a hand on his heart, hoping to at least ease the pain. He took out the piece of paper from his wallet and read the letter written again.

> _Papa's sorry Gray. There's an emergency at work and I need to report early. I prepared your favorite meal for you. Also. Ul and her spawns will be coming later, so come home early after school. Papa and Mama love you so much. From your amazing Papa with love._

'Don't worry Mom, Dad. I'll live through' He promised that day as he retired to his bed.

Six months had passed since then, Gray was getting used to living with Ul's family. As days went by, he started to move on and enjoyed his days with them. He was so comfortable with them, that he started to refer to Ul as his Mother.

Ul's tears had flown happily as she hugged her adopted son tightly. After she heard him say, "Well you've been acting like my mother since I was two, and it's not like I forgot my mother completely. It's just that you're more closer to a Mother" he stated with a flushed face.

Gray is almost entering high school next school year, and currently, they are on a family vacation. as he was walking with his brother to head to the movies, Gray noticed a curly-haired woman walking unsteadily by the side of the road. He was about to ignore her, but he suddenly heard a loud beep from a truck. Without warning, he leaped towards her and grabbed her to the side. They landed on the ground safe from being hit. He felt a sting by his elbow but decided to ignore to check if the girl was fine.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay? What am I doing?" he could hear the yellow-eyed girl look at him worriedly as she fussed about his wound. "Are there any injuries? Do you need help? Want me to bring you to the hospital?" she asked frantically, checking her bag for money.

"Hey, are you alright?" Gray heard someone asked him, still sitting on the ground. He raised his head, to see a familiar-looking pink-haired girl. The girl tilted her head to the side and asked him again. Gray could feel his cheeks warming as she stared at her black eyes, watching him curiously. He started to get flustered as she asked him again. Unable to think for words, he only nodded his head and left in a hurry. He peeked from his shoulder and could see the pink-haired girl calling for the black-haired lady's attention.

Once Lyon had seen him out from the crowd, he was scolded for acting abruptly without warnings. However, he moved on and decided to tease his brother. "Gray is so in love right now"

The raven-haired lad averted his eyes from the back of the pink-haired girl to his brother. "Shut up".

Two years passed by, Gray finds himself in his room talking to a toddler life-sized doll with pink hair. Claiming that she has been cursed by a witch.


	24. Episode 23

Natsu was standing in the middle of nowhere in her human body. Despite being human, she felt like something heavy was placed on her. She looked around but found nothing, she started to walk and run but could hear nothing aside from her footsteps and her voice.

She used her fire to light farther away from her but found nothing. She pouted and tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Where the hell am I?” She asked no one. She decided to sit down and tried to think about what to do next.

“Well, it’s great that I am human now, but where is this?” she looked around again.

“Gray? are you there?” she asked but no one responded.

She frowned and stood up again when she suddenly could hear footsteps heading towards her. Her eyes widened upon seeing Gray all of a sudden, and her view had changed from nothingness to a place filled with people and shops. She was about to greet Gray and show off her body to him, however. Gray had ignored her as he went to greet a lady with blue hair.

Her eyes widened in excitement after seeing Juvia, walking towards her, she was about to hug her tight but her body passed through her.

“Huh?” she wondered as she watched her hand. “That’s weird”

“What is weird?” 

“My body. I can’t touc-” her words halted when she heard someone whisper by her ears. Turning her head to see the girl that she has been looking for.

“Ah, you! you’re the one who cursed me”

Hikaru smiled, as Natsu finally noticed her presence. Though she ignored her words and walked closer towards her. She placed her hand on her cheeks and smiled lovingly towards her. “Oh, Natsu. you really are pretty. Why can’t you be mine?” she asked in wonder. while poking on her cheeks.

Natsu frowned from her words as she stepped back, “I told you didn’t I? I’m not into girls” she growled back.

The black-haired lady sighed in annoyance and watched Gray and Juvia from the corner. “It must be because of him then?” she muttered suddenly earning a confused Natsu. “You love him right?” she asked while pointing a finger towards the raven-haired lad.

Natsu felt her cheeks heat up and crossed her arms across her chest. “So what if I am? Gray and I are in love with each other”

Hikaru chuckled and grinned to herself as she asked, “Are you sure about that?”

“What are you talking about?”

Natsu was left surprised and scared when Hikaru suddenly ran close to her and whispered to her ears. “From what I see, he seems to be in love with someone else” 

0o0o0

Natsu screamed from her bed and sat up. She was sweating with eyes wide, while Gray sat beside her wondering what happened.

“Natsu, are you okay?” Gray asked worriedly, hovering above her.

The doll remained silent as she stared back to his eyes, remembering her dream, she averted her eyes from him and lied.

“If you say so. come one. It’s time for breakfast” 

Natsu nodded her head and sat up. She waited for Gray to leave before she placed her hand to her chest. ‘That was just a dream’ she reminded herself and closed her eyes. Her mind had then wondered back before she woke up. ‘Gray is in love with me’ she muttered repeatedly, slowly losing consciousness as she fell back to sleep.

Minutes had passed by, and Gray was already done with his breakfast. He raised a brow though when he noticed that Natsu hadn't come down. He sighed and stood up to check her in his room, only to find him sleeping again. He closed the door back and shrugged as he went back down.

“Where’s Natsu?” he heard his mother ask.

“Sleeping” 

“That’s weird, she’s usually up early during the morning”

“Oh yeah, Mom. I’ll be going out later. I’ll leave Natsu to you, please?” he asked worriedly at his adopted mother, who nodded her head as she agreed.

Hours passed, Gray went back to his room to change his clothes. He sighed though at the Doll still sleeping on his bed with a frown. He chuckled as he poked her connecting eyebrows. “Hey, Natsu. I’ll be leaving now. Stay with mom today and don’t go out” He reminded her but didn’t get any response. “Well, not like you’re gonna respond while you're sleeping”.

The young lad then stood up from his bed and started to change his clothes. Once he was done, he spared one look at Natsu and started to leave after closing the door.

“I’m going” Gray called out from the front door, as he picked up his bag and left.

Gray started heading to a bus stop and waited for a bus to arrive, minutes later it came and he got in. He waited for almost an hour of travel and soon got off when he arrived. He made a stop at a convenience store and bought an Ice cream as it was too hot. He started to head to the met up place hoping that he is just on time. Once he made a turn and came to a view of a small cafe, where he will be meeting them. He got inside and looked around to find two small childrens sitting beside their mother and two other men with her. 

Mavis noticed his presence and immediately waved her hand to him. Gray nodded his head in response and went to their seat.

“Eh? Aunt Natsu isn’t with you?” One of the twins complained, as he slumped his head down to the table and started to sulk.

“Come on Larcade, you will see her soon. Since your father is excited to meet his sister as well” his Mother scolded him a bit for sulking and grinned towards her husband who was sprouting red on his cheeks.

“Come here, Gray. Sit here” She smiled and pointed to a seat beside a red-haired man with scars on his right face. The older man turned towards him and nodded his head in greeting, Gray did the same as he sat beside him.

“Okay. Now that you're here. I’ll introduce you to these gentlemen first” The blond-haired woman smiled, and pointed her hand to her husband. “This is my husband Zeref Dragneel. He’s Natsu’s older brother, and the man beside you is their Uncle, Igneel.”

Gray nodded his head at them, “Nice to meet you. I’m Gray Fullbuster.”

“I heard. Also, how is Natsu? Is she okay? is it true that she was turned into a doll?” The man beside him suddenly asked, looking frantic as he shook his shoulder.

Gray’s eyes started to get dizzy, as he tried to respond to the older man. Igneel got told off by his nephew’s wife, tilted his head to the side. He then turned to the younger lad and widened his eyes.

“Oh, sorry about that boy. I was just excited to see Natsu later.”

“No, it’s fine.” Gray smiled with fear, from the treatment. 

“But may I know why you didn’t bring Natsu with you?” came a question from the older brother.

“I actually wanted to, but weeks after we visited your house. Natsu has been falling asleep a lot. She’s usually full of energy every day, but at this time she is only awake for at least a couple of hours then goes back to sleep again. I am starting to wonder if she has something to do with her.”

The adult frowned at his response and asked what he meant.

“She’s been mumbling a lot in her sleep, and I always hear her speak her name. I tried asking her about her dreams, but she always lies to me every time” Gray sighed.

“Then where is she now?” he heard the Uncle ask.

“She’s currently at home, still sleeping. I left my mother to take care of her while I am away. She also knows what is happening with Natsu, so she’s keeping her safe”

Mavis then clapped her hands and smiled, “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go?” The blond woman grinned, earning approvals from the other two adults. Gray stood up from his seat and started to follow the family behind. He suddenly felt someone holding his hand, turning his attention to the tiny hand, he smiled.

“Are we going to see Aunt Natsu? August asked curiously, gripping on his hand tightly.

Gray nodded and smiled, as they left the cafe. They went inside the car and started to drive towards his house.

0o0o0

“Hey! Where are you?” Natsu yelled to no one, as she was trapped again into nothingness.

She started to run for as long as her legs would allow too but found no one in sight. Annoyed, she sat down and glared to no one. “Fine, you can hide for as long as you want. I don't care anymore”

“Are you really?” The black-haired woman asked as she was suddenly standing in front of her.

Natsu looked up to her and glared, “Finally deciding to show up?”

Hikaru smiled, “Well, I was having fun watching you looking for me” she kneel down in front of her and placed her hand to her cheek.

“Can you please stop this already? I don’t want to be stuck here anymore” She complained, as she swats her hand away from her cheek.

The black-haired lady only smiled though and stood up, she started walking away from Natsu. Making Natsu even more pissed as she followed the woman from behind.

“Hey! I am talking to you!” Natsu exclaimed.

“It’s not up to me if you don’t want to stay here anymore.”

Natsu frowned and asked her what she meant.

“Well, you need to accept that Gray isn’t in love with you. Since you only forced him to be your lover, right?” she smiled again while facing the pinkenette.

Natsu shook her head and denied her claims. “No, Gray has been in love with me ever since he got me”

Hikaru tilted her head to the side and asked, “Are you sure about that?” 

Natsu glared back at her, aggressive in believing that Gray has feelings for her. 

“Then why don’t you see for yourself?” Hikaru chimed in as she reached out her arm to her and swung it back to her side. It was in an instant that the view changed. Natsu could see people walking and passing them by, Shops being visited by customers and cars running on the road.

The pink-haired girl frowned, as she wondered when and how did they even get there. 

“Can you see them over there?” Hikaru asked as she pointed towards a shop.

Natsu steered her eyes from her finger to the area where she was pointing, her eyes then bulged when she saw Gray with Juvia again. She was about to come running towards them, and talk to them. However, they didn’t hear her words.

Natsu pouted and turned towards Hikaru, but the girl was nowhere to be found. She turned back to Gray and Juvia, to find them a bit weird for some reason, but disregarded the thought.

“Hey, Gray when are you going to give Natsu to me?”

Natsu heard Juvia ask Gray, causing her to raise a brow knowing that Gray wouldn’t hand her over to anyone. She observed his facial expression and noticed him frowned, she was about to smile as she was happy that they have the same thoughts.

“But, handing the doll to you now isn’t a good idea”

Her frown was back after she heard him saying those words, noticing their hands entwined to each other. She walked towards them and tried to pry their hands off each other but failed as she was unable to physically touch them. “Gray, I demand you let go of her hand now” She shouted to the raven-haired man’s ears, but Gray didn’t hear her. But instead, the lad had placed his arm around the blue-haired girl.

“You bastard. How dare you try to cheat on me” Nasu threw flames from her mouth to the lad, but Gray acted nothing happened.

“Well, if you say so.” Juvia suddenly said, smiling as she grabbed the hand around her shoulders. “Oh, what if we ask Hikaru about it” The water user advised while grinning towards Gray.

“No. Don’t agree with it Gray” Natsu shouted back. Her heart started to get heavier as she noticed how the man was thinking about it. She suddenly felt the pain when Gray agreed with Juvia’s advice. Nasu fell silent from his words, she clutched her fist tightly as she bit on her lip. “No. I won’t fall for this for the second time. Gray isn’t like this” Natsu shouted to no one, as she turned and started to look for Hikaru. “Get your ass out there you witch bastard. I’m gonna beat you up for thinking that you will fool me this time”

“I am not fooling you Natsu” the black-haired woman smiled, as she wrapped her arms around her. “You’re just not able to accept the reality right? Poor Natsu. Don’t worry, I’ll love you more than that man”

Natsu tried to get away from her hold but failed. Her body was starting to lose its strength, blood started to fall from her mouth, her eyes slowly trailed down to her chest, and could see Hikaru’s hand going inside her.

“The hell you bastard. Turning me into a doll wasn’t enough for you?” she gasped, as she held on the wrist that was pierced on her chest. “I’m not gonna let you” she tried to pull the hand out from her, but her movements suddenly halted, and all she could see was Hikaru smiling at her with a wicked grin.

0o0o0

“Mom, I’m back and I brought Natsu’s relatives with me” Gray smiled and greeted his mother who immediately came and suddenly a surprised face was planted on her face. Gray tilted his head to the side and wondered what was wrong.

“I should have known” his mother suddenly claimed.

“Huh? Why? is it bad that I bought them here?” Gray asked worriedly, wondering if what he had done isn’t good. 

“No that’s not it” Ul let out a sigh again and faced the man with scars on his face. “It’s been a while Igneel. I might be getting older since I didn’t realize that Natsu is the little girl you’ve been looking for.”

“Greetings Ul” The man smiled back. “Well, I didn’t know as well that your son has been taking care of my niece.”

Ul grinned, “Well, whatever" her eyes had then averted to her adopted son, "Natsu is still in your room Gray” she then turned to the others and greeted them after introducing herself. The family responded with a nod, while the two kids are now running around the house. Mavis turned to Ul and apologized for her twins. Ul just waved it off and guided them to the living while Gray went up to his room to wake Natsu up.

Gray went up the stairs after he saw them getting inside the living. Heading up towards his door, to find the room slightly ajar. He thought that Natsu must’ve been awake by now, and smiled at the thought of her seeing her uncle again. He opened the door to find it darker than usual, turning on the lights. Natsu was still sleeping on the bed. He sighed and sat beside her, trying to wake her up.

“Natus, your Uncle, and Brother are here” Gray called out, hoping it would wake Natsu. 

But Natsu only squirmed in her sleep. Her head was tossing, and her mouth was slightly open as if she was having a hard time breathing for air. He thought that it was weird, he tried shaking her again, but was horrified when her face started to crack. his body was stilled as he watched the crack, slowly placing her down to the bed. He stood up and looked outside his house from the window. He turned back to the bed and kneeled. “Natsu, what’s wrong with you?” Gray asked worriedly as he tried to hold his hand from grabbing her.

It was then he could hear someone chuckling by his ears. He turned to find the missing girl that they have been looking for.

“You, what are you doing here?”

Hikaru just smiled back and nonchalantly responded, “Nothing, I was just here to fetch Natsu, and she’s already with me”, it wasn’t later that Hikaru just suddenly disappeared. Leaving Gray confused about what she meant, he turned around to find Natsu laying on his bed, not breathing.


	25. Episode 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Readers! I am very happy to be able to post earlier than expected. Honestly, I wanted to complete this story until chapter 26! But I didn't want this to make it too rush and thus, I ended up making it longer than it should. I am a bit shocked and dumbfounded at myself when I realized that I like to talk so much. Anyways, Enjoy reading!

The room was silent, and dread after they heard the commotion from the young lad's room. But when they got there, Gray was kneeling by the bed, trying to wake the sleeping doll while shaking her. It was then they heard that Hikaru had intruded their home. Ul and Igneel tried to catch after the young lady, but they came back with nothing.

Mavis who was trying to call her friend, about her niece. But heard unfortunate news instead. Her tears started to fall after hearing about her friend's demise. She leaned to her husbands' chest as she cried from the news. Fortunately, her sons were asleep and weren't aware of the happenings around them.

Zeref and Igneel felt that they had failed her again, as they gritted their teeth in impatience. Their fist balled with anger due to the misfortune that has been happening to their only girl in the family. Ul could only sympathize with them as they watched them in despair.

"I shouldn't have left her that day" Igneel muttered to himself, his voice filled with regret.

"No, it's not your fault Uncle. I should have written the letter more clearly, so you won't have your suspicions. Also, I failed as her brother, since I didn't bother looking after her after hearing what happened to our parents." Zeref rebuked, as he was still trying to comfort his wife.

"That's because you had your reasons" Igneel sighed, as he looked to the ground.

"I had back then. But I should have made it clear to you that I only wanted to meet Natsu when she was still living with you. Due to me being unable to use the correct words. You only did what is right and left Natsu to Makarov for safety. Because of that, years passed by. Natsu tried to look for you as what Makarov told me, but then all of a sudden she went missing. Everything is-"

His words were halted when they saw a hammer made of Ice, slamming against the coffee table. Their eyes widen from the sudden table to pieces.

"Okay, okay. Let's stop this 'Everything is my Fault-brigade' and start finding leads for Natsu?" Ul asked, starting to get annoyed. "Anyway Mavis, did you hear other news from the Sakurai's?".

The blond woman pressed her lips thin, as she dried her eyes from the tears. "Currently they are trying to locate Hikaru. She actually visited them yesterday and Hinata was able to talk with Hikaru for a couple of hours. She tried to talk to her niece to have the curse be undone. But she was being stubborn and did not heed for their calls. It was during that night when they suddenly heard Hinata's cry for help. But she was already lifeless when they found her in the middle of her own blood." Mavis cleared her throat and sighed. "Hikaru had killed her own aunt."

Their eyes widen from the news.

"After that, they tried to apprehend her but failed when she successfully escaped her family"

Hours had passed when Gray suddenly came down with a bag hanging by his shoulders. Ul, who saw him, approached her son. "Gray, where are you going?"

"I received an email from Juvia. They got leads on where Hikaru is. I'll leave Natsu to you" He was about to leave, but Igneel had stood behind him demanding to be brought with him. With a nod, Gray left the door open, while waiting for the older man to wear his shoes.

"Then I should go as well" Zeref added and was about to stand.

"No, I think it's better if you stay with Natsu's side for now dear" his wife warned, as she stood up and grabbed him by his wrist. "I have a feeling that you will be more helpful this way." She smiled and excused themselves to Gray's room, where Natsu was currently asleep.

Gray started to run with the older man behind him. when Igneel suddenly asked him where they were heading.

"School"

It was a second later when he was being hoisted up, and all he could see his feet dangling in the air. His eyes widen as he grabs tightly on the arm around him. He tilted his head to find the man flying with wings behind his back.

"What the?" he mumbled dumbfoundedly as he stared at his wings.

Ignell noticed his reaction and realized something, "Don't tell me Natsu didn't tell you anything about me?"

Gray shook his head in response, "Aside from telling me that you are her Uncle is all"

Igneel just hummed, and in less than a minute later. Gray could finally see the rooftop of his school. He pointed towards an area, where Gray could see Juvia and another man that he isn't familiar with. Igneel nodded and landed close to them.

"Gray, we got leads about Hikaru." Juvia smiled, as she stared at the older man with Gray.

"I'll do the introductions later. This man here is Natsu's uncle."

"I know, I heard from Gajeel." she smiled back earning a confused lad.

"-and what news did you get?"

"It would be this." Gejeel pointed to an invisible wall. His hand hovering just beside it.

Igneel released a groan and sighed. "That old man should have used a much stronger barrier"

"She did create a strong wall though, I can't even pulverize it the ground" the metal user stated, as he tried it again.

"You're weak" Igneel laughed as he transformed into a dragon and used his feet to kick the wall, allowing it to appear before their eyes. The man then turned back into his human form and punched a fire towards the wall to create a gap.

"There" Igneel smugly said and entered the building. "We should hurry and find this little girl that has been causing a lot of pain in the ass."

0o0o0

"Come on Natsu, wake up"

The pink-haired girl groaned from her bed, as she asked for another five minutes.

"You'll be late if you don't wake up now"

With a groan, she sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes to wake. She then stood up from her bed and stretched her muscles. While dozing and still sleepy, she maneuvered her way to the kitchen and reached out for the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" she heard someone scold her as they stole the box of milk from her hand.

"You're a lady, drink it from a glass"

Natsu pouted and went to the table to start eating her breakfast and then suddenly froze when the man in front of her served her a glass of milk. She raised a brow as she wondered who the man was.

"Who are you?" she asked while tilting her head.

"Seriously. Is that something you should ask from your brother early in the morning? Did you have a screw loose?"

She glared at the black-haired man and glinted her eyes towards him while they ate.

"Should you really be glaring at me? The man who cooked you breakfast and woke you up?"

But she just continued to glare at him suspiciously. She instantly had her forehead almost touch her meal, when a hand smacked her from the head.

"Natsu, don't be mean to your brother. Hurry and get change already. so you can head to school" Natsu turned her head to the person behind him, and her eyes were wide upon looking at him. She stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Igneel, where have you been? I've been looking for you" she cried, as she held on him tight. Making the two males raised a brow and confused about what she meant.

With a sigh, Igneel pried her arms off. "Come on. You're going to be late. Also, Hikaru is here to fetch you. You shouldn't cause trouble for her you know."

"Hikaru? Whose that?" she asked curiously with snot dripping from her nose.

"That's disgusting. Hurry and go change already if your done eating"

Natsu nodded her head meekly and went back to her to change, it was a few minutes later when she left the house and greeted a curly black haired girl.

"Good morning Natsu" Hikaru smiled, as she connected their hands together.

Natsu in turn greeted her with a smile but felt something weird upon seeing her.

0o0o0

Ul was sitting by the window sill, watching the so-called older brother staring at his sister. She did wonder though about their conversations earlier on why they need to leave the little girl all alone. If she had a brother, why did the brother have to result in sending two suspicious people with a letter to his Uncles' home to allow him to see his little sister?

She had known Igneel a decade ago when they happened to be on the same work. It was only after hearing about what happened to his twin brother, that she started to notice him acting off. Being overly cautious to anyone, and had attempted to request in allowing him to work on his own home.

She tried to ask him what was happening after he went to visit his sibling. But Igneel suddenly quit working and heard that he went back to his hometown.

Ul pressed her lips to the side and wondered if the siblings have been separated since they were young. Her curiosity was reaching its peak, she sighed and just asked the younger man.

"Hey, Zeref. I want to ask you about your statement earlier."

Zeref turned his head and looked at the woman back.

"Were you and Natsu separated when you were young?"

The black-haired man nodded his head and smiled. "Something like that. But I wasn't aware though that she survived after our parents were killed."

"Killed?"

The man nodded his head again. "At first I heard that it was a fire, but our family has been descendants of a fire dragon, so I find it weird why my father would die from fire when he could control it. Also, they were burned just outside of our house, and after further investigations. It was reported that they were stabbed and burned to death in our backyard."

Ul nodded her head in agreement. She was surprised to learn though, about the Dragneels' ancestors.

"It was then when I started to investigate it myself that I learned it was them who were after me who killed my parents."

"After you why?"

"When I was young, I learned and developed dark magics, and when the Sakurai family heard about it and knew that I am a Drageneel. They wanted me to work for them despite my young age. My father who knows about them declined, and honestly, some of the Sakurai family understood and accepted the rejection. However, one woman wasn't able to accept it. She tried to persuade me into joining her, she even attempted to kidnap me. There was a time when she was able to get a hold of me that she started to threaten me."

Zeref smiled sadly to his wife, who was looking worried at him after he felt her brush his hand on him.

"Years passed by, I started to learn something from that woman. She wasn't actually after me because I learned dark magic nor I am a Dragneel. She was after me because I am my father's son, and she wanted me dead because I look a lot like my mother. Luckily though I received an offer to study overseas from a professor who has taken a liking to me. I tried to ask my parents that they should come with me. But we aren't exactly wealthy enough for us to suddenly move. So when I reached fifteen, I moved out to study abroad."

"What happened after that?"

"After that, I kept contacting my parents and heard about the pregnancy. But months later, I received news from the professor that my parents are dead."

"Then when did you learn that your sister was alive?"

"That was five years later after their death when I heard that my Uncle took her under his care. I tried to contact him and ask why he didn't tell me. But I lost contact with him. It was only a year ago that I learned he was hiding in their parents' old home. That's why I sent someone there to deliver the message to him. Though I wasn't aware that that woman was following him around using a disguise."

"That woman?"

"Yes, that woman. She was Hikaru's mother"

Ul was astounded from the news, she sighed "So the Mother was after the father, and now the daughter is after his daughter."

0o0o0

"Are you sure that she's here?" Gray asked Gajeel.

"Why, are you doubting me?" The lad asked back, looking annoyed, only to earn a scolding from his childhood friend.

Gray only glared back as he continued walking the halls following Igneel, who was leading them the way as if he knew where. Gray heard the man sniff the air, and his steps started to move faster. The three teenagers hurried on their steps as they walked and tried to keep their eyes following the older man.

Suddenly Igneel halted and punched the wall beside him. They were surprised by the sudden outburst, and could only watch the dust and small rocks falling off the wall. They turned their head towards the red-haired man when he entered the gap that he just created. Following behind them, Gajeel decided to stay behind for a lookout.

However, they found nothing.

Gray frowned and looked around. He tries to find something that can lead them to the missing girl, he sighs in defeat, when all they could find are pictures and newspapers being scattered around.

"This is?" Juvia muttered while picking up the pictures. Gray stood beside her and peeked at the pictures. "It's Natsu".

Igneel turned towards them and to the papers scattered on the ground. He started to walk to an empty wall and punched it again. Gray and Juvia had squatted down from the impact and waited for the dust to vanish. They then stood up and followed the older man to the other room.

"No one's here" Juvia frowned.

"No. She's here I say." Igneel sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

Hikaru was trapped in a web, smiling eerily as they watched them enter her home. She suddenly turned into a set of butterflies and landed in front of Igneel. "You look just like her" She smiled, as she floated in the air."

"Undo the curse on Natsu. Now" The older man demanded, as she glared at the girl. Hikaru only smiled though and stayed afloat, slowly disintegrating into butterflies. She was then found sitting back to the web, as she leaned on her knees.

"It's not up to me though"

"What do you mean?" the ice user asked, glaring at the black-haired girl.

"Natsu is currently sleeping and living the life she wanted." she then gasped and turned to Gray "Oh, but if you want. I can undo it for her, but I'll have to kill you"

Everything was in slow motion when Hikaru suddenly appeared behind the raven-haired lad. All Gray suddenly felt was blood was coming out from his mouth and agonizing pain from his back. He suddenly fell to his knees, slowly losing consciousness after she pushed the knife even deeper inside.

Juvia shouted horrified after seeing Gray on the ground, she instantly used her water magic in an attempt to hit her, but Hikaru had already evaded. She started to laugh at them as she lied back down to her web, her fingers playing on her knife. Juvia ran towards Gray and carried his upper body to her chest while glaring at the woman.

"Well, that felt good." She sat up again and crossed her legs. "Now that's one less problem to take care of." She giggled as she looked at their eyes, "Oh. I can see your hatred." She sighed and leaned on her palm. "I am actually pretty weak right now, and I could die right away if you want. But do you really want that?" She chuckled when she saw the change of their facial expressions.

"Well, even if you get my blood, it will be too late anyway." She stood up and floated a few feet away from the older man. "You know, because of that woman. I am only able to use a few of my powers. It must be because of that man. But who cares once I am gone, Natsu will be gone as well"

With anger planted in his face and unable to hold on, he flew towards the girl and punched her on the face. Hikaru was taken aback that she failed to evade, had hit the wall. Her blood had flown out from her mouth and slid to the ground.

"Stop your Drama. I know that you're not hurt." Igneel stated and glared at the woman. Indeed Hikaru surfaced again looking healthy, behind him. His tail appeared behind him and used to hit her on her side, but it passed through her as her midsection had turned into butterflies.

"You know, I am actually weak and I doubt I would be able to defeat you since you're ten times stronger than me." she flew far away from the enraged man, "I actually save this one for that man who used that woman to take my powers from me. But I think it's better if I use it on you" She smiled and used a spell on him. Igneel was confused as he tried to fly towards her but failed when his body had turned to stone.

What she didn't realize though, was that she has been long trapped in her opponent's trap. Her eyes widened from the cage that had trapped her inside. Using her hands to get away, she cast what she could use to get out.

"Juvia, are you alright?" Gray asked worriedly to the water user who has been using her magic for their reflection.

"Nice job young man" Igneel complimented to the other lad, who was now sporting a grin back at him, looking proud.


	26. Episode 25

Natsu was eating her lunch with Hikaru on the rooftop, staring curiously at the black-haired woman she didn't realize that Hikaru was smiling back at her while she ate.

"Is there something wrong Natsu?" she heard her ask, and shook her head as she started to eat.

 _'Something feels off'_ she thought to herself, her mind is now spacing out.

0o0o0

Hikaru was being tied to a cross with Gajeels metal magic. She had stayed silent as she glared at the people right in front of her. They tried to talk to her by letting Natsu turn back into humans, but the girl would remain silent, and smile at them.

"This is not working" Ul commented as she felt irked by the way the girl was smiling at them.

"I ask you again, Sakurai. Please undo the spell you cast on Natsu" Mavis asked sternly. But got no response. With a sigh, she stood up from her chair and turned to Hikaru's cousin. "Tsukasa seems like she led us not to have any choice. Do you mind undoing the curse on her behalf?" she asked worriedly.

The curly-haired man with black hair sighs and agrees with Mavis' statement. He then stood up from his chair and took out a veil. He started to draw blood out from his cousin and used the veil to fill it with her blood. "I know that this all started because of my aunt and this woman, and our family has been in deep regret because of their actions. Know that I am willing to help you as much as I can. However." He went silent after that, afraid to finish his line. He faced them again, after closing the lid of the veil.

"We have no choice, she is unwilling to undo the curse" Igneel growled with anger in his voice.

The girl tied in a cross started to giggle and slowly laughed loudly, while her blood was flowing out from her. "Unfortunately for you. Natsu is already within me. Doesn't matter if you undo the curse or not, whether I die or not. She will be with me for eternity" She yelled loudly as she started to laugh again. She tilted her head to the side and suddenly stopped her laughter, with her brow raised into a frown, her face looking sad while her lips were smiling wide. "Honestly though, the curse has already been lifted. However, she is now nothing but an empty doll." she laughed again, tears falling from her eyes, hysterically crying and laughing at the same time.

She suddenly fell silent, when she felt a piercing pain from her gut.

Instead of crying in pain. She only started to laugh harder, while Mavis healed her right away to keep her from dying.

"Healing me is not needed. Because there will be nobody to heal in ten, nine" she started to giggle as she counted till it reached one. Her cousin, who was beside her, had tried to stop her from what she was planning and cast a spell to stop her from doing anything. But it was too late, as her body had slowly turned into ashes and soon the ashes turned into black fire.

There was silence in the room, and her cousin cursed her for learning the forbidden spell. He started to feel a headache from all the problems his clan had been causing them. There were frowns in their faces as they faced the lad who was standing near the black flames burning out the ashes.

"What was that? Where did she go?" Gray asked, after seeing that Hikaru was nowhere in sight.

"We better hurry and look for her. Gray, stay with Natsu this time" Ul muttered as she was about to jump out of the window, earning a nod from Igneel, who had his wings out.

"No. She didn't escape." Tsukasa stated, he then turned towards them and pointed to the flames. "She used all her remaining magic to use one of the restricted magic"

Tsukasa was then left speechless when he felt his collar being pulled, and black eyes glaring at him. "Who taught you guys that spell?" Zeref growled in anger. While the younger man just wrapped his hand around his wrist and pressed his lips thin.

"Zeref, calm down" Mavis called out as she stepped closer to her enraged husband. "Tsukasa won't be able to explain if you hold him like that.

The black-haired Dragneel let the young man go with his eyes still glaring at him. The young man bowed his head again and apologized on behalf of his family. "I am embarrassed to admit, but I was the one who took those notes" Tsukasa looked at his feet, and apologized again.

It was then Igneel remembered about what happened after his brothers and the wife's funeral.

> _Igneel stayed at his Brother's house for a week. Packing and preparing some clothes and toys for his niece. On his third stay, he noticed some strangers he hadn't seen before hanging around the house. Almost every day, he would see people he doesn't recognize. One time, he tried to talk to one of them, but he was ignored and they would run away. He asked some neighbors, but they didn't know them as well. On his last day at his Brother's house, he saw a black-haired man standing by the tree, staring back at him with his hands holding a broken twig. He stared back at the young man for a few seconds and left. Holding little Natsu tightly on his arms._

"Don't tell me. You were that boy?" he asked.

Tsukasa nodded his head in shame and regret, as he apologized again.

"But how did you? I left that magic incomplete due to how dangerous it could be." Zeref pointed out to the young lad.

"It is, but I was young back then, and hated the world. I studied everything that you left there, but I decided to stop after I learned that I almost cost my Mother's life while studying and testing the spell. After that incident, I left it undone and locked into our forbidden room, and sealed it."

"So you mean to say that it was still incomplete?"

"Should be. Hikaru must have stolen it and continued it on her own."

"That still didn't change the fact that you caused us trouble as well." Gajeel started with a glare to the young man. "If you weren't so bitter to the world. You wouldn't have tried what you have done"

Tsukasa remained silent and apologized again.

"No. This is still my fa-" Zeref's mouth was shut closed when he felt his wife's finger on his lips.

"There's no use blaming. What's done is done. Tsukasa, since we have no other choice. Please undo the curse.' Mavis sighed in annoyance at her husband and asked the younger man to lift the spell.

Tsukasa nodded his head in response, and stood up from his chair, as they went out from the basement of the Fullbuster's home, and followed Gray to his room.

0o0o0

Natsu was staring at her ceiling eyes wide, mind filled with thoughts. Her brows started to frown when she felt a pain in her head. Sitting up from her bed, she leaned by her window and watched the dark empty street outside. _'Something feels off. But I don't know what it is'_ she thought to herself again.

She turned to her door, and stood up from her bed, thinking that a cup of milk would help her. Picking up her cat from the ground, she patted his blue hair as she left her room and headed to the kitchen. She then turned on the lights and allowed 'Happy' to jump off from her arms. Opening the fridge and taking out the box of milk. She didn't bother to take out a glass. Only to spill the content from her mouth when she heard her brother suddenly speak behind her in a soft voice.

"The hell. You scared me" She screamed and grabbed a kitchen paper towel to wipe the spillage from her chin and the counter.

Zeref frowned at her and picked up the forgotten box of milk from the ground. "Natsu, didn't I tell you not to drink milk directly from the cartoon? We have glasses or cups or mugs for them"

"Sorry" Natsu grinned while throwing the dirty paper towels from her hand.

"Seriously. You're a girl, though it doesn't really matter. But I find this disgusting, so please stop and be a good little sibling. okay?"

Natsu pouted her lips and nodded her head. She then continued to grab a new box of milk from the fridge and took a glass from the cabinet. Turning her head to her brother, she asked if he wanted one, which Zeref nodded his head. With a smile, she took out two glasses and placed them on the table. She then sat down and started to pour the milk to their glasses. They were silent for a while. as they sip from the cold beverage in front of them.

"Hey, Zeref. This might sound weird. But how long have I known Hikaru?"

Her brother raised a brow and stared confusedly at his sister. "Didn't you meet her when you were in middle school?"

She frowned and thought about it, "I'm not sure"

"Why?" Zeref asked curiously wondering what has been weighing her mind since this morning.

"It's just that, I felt something was off every time I am with her" She gazed her eyes back at her brother. "It feels like I am missing something or forgetting something." She could slowly see her brother's face started to look worried at her and his expression was mixed with confusion. "I don't really know what it is, but it just didn't seem right."

Zeref smiled sadly at her and stood up from his chair. "Honestly, I don't really understand what you are trying to say. But if you feel like something is wrong, you can just make it right" He smiled when his sister looked up at him. "I think it is better than having regrets, won't you agree?" He then walked towards the sink and rinsed his dirty glass with water and left it there.

Natsu nodded her head and grinned at her brother. Standing up from her chair, she wrapped her arms around him. Zeref raised a brow as he was surprised by the sudden warm hug he's receiving, nevertheless, he patted her head, and returned the hug back.

 _'If I had known that I have a brother. I would be much happier when I was younger.' S_ he thought to herself and said goodnight to her brother. It was only then when he left, she realized what she just thought and found it weird. 'What do I mean by that?' she asked no one and picked up her cat. Her mind now even more confused and juggled.

It was already morning when Natsu was greeted again by Hikaru waiting for her in their front door. Smiling widely at her as her eyes met hers, she greeted her a good morning and they started to head off for school. Natsu's mind was still muddled as her steps were slowing, not realizing that she had been left behind when Hikaru was suddenly pulled away by one of their classmates.

Natsu was gazing off space, walking with a frown when she suddenly bumped into a young girl with blond hair. They both let out a surprised yell and fell to the ground. Sitting up from the ground, the blond woman turned to Natsu and apologized for bumping to her.

"Are you okay? I am really sorry. I didn't mean to bump on you" the blond girl said, as she offered her hand to her.

Natsu patted her bum from the pain and smiled at the girl in front of her. Grabbing for her hand, she apologized as well for not paying attention to the road. "Lucy?" She stared at the girl, who was now tilting her head to the side, wondering how she knows her name.

"Eh? Do I know you?" Lucy asked, with her head tilting to the side.

Natsu grinned and scratched her head. "Eh? sorry. I just blurted it out suddenly. I don't really know you, you just kinda remind me of someone" She lied.

Lucy chuckled and smiled. "Well, as you said my name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. You are?" she asked.

"Natsu Dragneel" Natsu smiled as she shook hands with the other girl. She was about to ask about Lucy's school, but her school bell already chimed, indicating that she will be late if she won't start running. With a smile, she saluted at her newfound friend and promised to meet again soon.

Lucy was confused as she left, _'and off she goes'_ Lucy placed a hand on her hips and chuckled. _'I don't even know if we'll meet again. But anyway'_ and she shrugged and started to walk.

"Lucy. Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" A raven haired lad glared at his childhood friend. Lucy turned to him and chuckled with a guilty look. "Sorry, Gray. You were just too slow, that I have to leave you behind"

Gray rolled his eyes at her and started to drag her by her collar. Lucy pouted from the treatment but allowed her friend to do so.

0o0o0

There was silence in the room, as they watched Natsu slowly revert back to her human form. Standing beside the bed was the curly black-haired man, trying to revoke the spell that was cast to her. Slowly her body stretched, the cracks on her skin vanishing. Soon, her doll-like appearance was replaced with her human body. However, she remained not breathing and looked dead.

Gray clenched his fist tight as he watched Natsu finally return to her original body, but not certain if she will live or not.

Tsukasa breathed a sigh of relief, after successfully turning her back. With lips thin and regret in his eyes, he turned to them, and nodded his head, signaling that he's done. Mavis let out a 'thanks', as she patted her husband's shoulder. Zeref gulped his own saliva and walked closer to his sleeping sister. He grabbed for her hand softly and pressed them tightly with both hands. He then let one of his hands move some strands away from her face.

Igneel sat beside him silently, as they wished for Natsu to wake up. However, it wasn't a second later when she slowly opened her eyes, which had them alerted. Now kneeling beside the bed. Igneel tried to call out to her. But Natsu just turned her head to him and stared back.

"Natsu, it's me. It's Igneel" Her Uncle cried out. They watched Natsu turn her head back to the ceiling and didn't respond. Zeref could feel his throat tightening, realizing that this must be what the Sakurai Family were saying. He abruptly averted his eyes to Tsukasa, but the young lad only frowned and looked back at him with guilty eyes.

With a sigh, "This is what happened to our Grandmother as well after she was turned back into a human. Again, I regret to say and apologize on behalf of my family for the troubles and damage that we have caused you" The young Sakurai heir bowed, "If there is something else that we could help. We are willing to assist you in any way"

Zeref trailed his eyes back at his sister who was now in the arms of Igneel being hugged tightly as he tried to hold back his tears.

Gray, who was silent behind them, had run out from his room without saying anything. His mother though was able to see his teary eyes and lips being bitten by his mouth. Ul decided to follow her son and to leave the family alone. Calling for Tsukasa's attention, the young man nodded and followed her to the living room.

It was then Ul saw her daughter entering back the room with a worried look planted on her face.

"Did something happen? I just saw Gray left with tears in his eyes. Did Lyon teased him again?"

Ul shook her head, "No, Natsu was returned back to a human"

With the response, Ultear smiled and suddenly frowned. "Then why is he on the verge of crying?"

Tsukasa smiled sadly and explained what happened to the pink-haired girl. Ultear listened to his words and nodded her head in understanding. She then clutches her hands together and sighed sadly for her little brother.

"Is there any way for her to become more human again?" There was a voice by the doorway. They turned their head towards the voice and could find the eldest brother with a frown on his face.

"Lyon, when did you get back?"

The silver-haired lad sat beside his sister, "Hours after they brought that crazy woman to our basement" He then turned his attention back to Tsukasa and asked him again if there are possible ways.

The man remained silent and thought about what to say. "There is. However, it is almost close to not possible"

"Then it is possible." Gajeel suddenly spoke behind him with his childhood friend beside him.

"May we ask for further details?" The water user asked, standing closer to the table.

Tsukasa sighed and clasped his hand tightly. "Honestly, I am not a hundred percent sure if this is possible. But as I remember when I studied that spell a long time ago. When a human that was turned into a doll and was reverted back to a human by a different caster. That person will be in a dream-like state. Mentally."

"Mentally? What do you mean? She was awake though after she was turned back." Juvia asked again with confusion.

"Yes, she is alive. But empty." Tsukasa explained but was suddenly halted when Ul asked him to stop. She then turned her attention to her son and asked to call back Gray. She then asked her daughter to bring the Dragneels in the living.

Her children nodded their heads and went to retrieve what they were asked first. Gray was already on the front door when Lyon was about to step out. He didn't wait for his brother though to explain, as he heard everything. It wasn't that long when the Dragneels came down to the living. Leaving Natsu in the care of the twins, after they woke up from the commotion.

"Zeref, Igneel, Mavis. I think it's best if you listen to what Tsukasa is about to tell." Ul explained as she sat on the couch and crossed her legs, then nodding her head to Tsukasa to continue.

"As I said to Ul and the others before. There is no hundred percent chance that we can bring Natsu's state of mind back." He looked at the faces of Natsu's relatives and pressed his lips before speaking. "I did my research when I was young about this curse, and learned that people who were reverted back to a human after being turned into a doll by a different caster will remain empty inside."

He gulped down his saliva and looked again to the Dragneels. "However there is a way to bring her out from her blank like state"

"-and that is?"

"To enter their minds, am I correct?" Zeref asked, staring intensely at the man.

Tsukasa nodded in response.

Zeref let out a sigh and pressed the area between his brows. "I did have a hunch. But I wasn't exactly sure about this as well, and it seems like we both reached the same conclusion."

"But how are we able to do that?" Ul could hear her son ask Tsukasa. But it was Zeref who answered.

"I can help transfer my mind to my sister. But as the castor, I am unable to do that myself since this is the first time that I met my sister"

"I see, then perhaps. Igneel could do that? Since he has known her since she was a toddler" Mavis asked her husband.

"Unfortunately, that is impossible as well. Since I heard that Igneel hasn't been that close to Natsu after he left while she was still young" Zeref explained with a frown, earning a guilty frown from the older man. "It should be someone that is close to her, and will believe their words at a heartbeat, if possible"

"Then what about Gray? Natsu's been claiming him as her lover since they met" Juvia stated like she just realized something. The male Dragneels widened their eyes and averted their attention to the youngest Fullbuster. Gray could feel his saliva stuck on his throat as he coughed. With eyes, wide averted his attention to his friend.

"That's right. I almost forgot. Natsu did claim that you fell in love with her even before she met you. Though I asked how she knew. She just shrugged and stated that she could feel your love for her."

Gray was now sweating on his seat, as he tried to avert his attention away from the glaring eyes of the Dragneels. Mavis let out a sigh, annoyed by their reaction. "Come on, there's no need to react like that. We need to have every help we could to bring back Natsu. Don't you want that?"

"Fine" Zeref pouted, knowing that he really didn't have a say to who his sister will be dating. However, Igneel was observing the young lad with a glare as he stood up, and walked closer to the young man.

"You. come outside for a bit." Igneel ordered while glaring to Gray.

Gray abruptly stood up from his chair and nodded his head. He started to walk robotically, as he followed the older man in front of him. Zeref stood up as well, and followed them behind, earning a chuckling wife as they left the living. Lyon started to chuckle from his brother's situation. Ul and Ultear could only smirk. While the rest just stared at the door, and Juvia was smiling widely sitting on the couch.

Gray was watching the old man's back, as he could feel his sweat falling from his head. He then felt himself flinch when the man's voice suddenly gave him shivers all over his body. "What do you feel about Natsu?"

The black-haired lad was confused about what to say, as he himself isn't really a hundred percent sure about his feelings. He then averted his eyes to his foot, as he thought his words before he spoke. He was sure though that he fell in love with that pink-haired girl he met a few months ago. But he hasn't seen her since then, he doesn't even know her name.

However, as he got closer to Natsu. He started to doubt his feelings about that girl. He didn't want to admit it, but he started to harbor feelings for the doll that he picked up months ago. Also, after he met him. The words that he heard from her kept repeating in his mind, ' _You really love me a lot, don't you?'._ But after spending his days with her and getting to know her each day. He started to realize what he really felt, but decided not to think about it.

"Well?" Igneel asked again, starting to get annoyed.

"I am not sure actually" he responded truthfully, and he could see the glare from the man's eyes.

"So you're dating my niece and you don't-" Before he could finish Gray cleared his throat to explain.

"However, right now. Nothing is far more important to me than Natsu"

Igneel thinned his eyes as he observed the younger lad. "and why is that?"

Gray tightened his knuckles, as he bit on his lips. "I really don't know. Ever since I met her. It's just that my world started to revolve around her, and I don't understand why. I am not even sure if I love her or not. But to me, she's far more important than anything right now."

Igneel remained silent from his words, as he sighed. Igneel took a deep breath and raised his hand towards him. Gray flinched from the sudden approach, and closed his eyes, ready for something to hurt him. But instead felt a hard tap on both of his shoulders.

"Fine then. Looks like you're super dense, but at least you admit what you really feel about her." Igneel then peeked behind Gray and asked. "Is that sufficient for you Zeref?"

Zeref appeared behind Gray and smiled with a nod. "With that much feelings towards my sister, then there will be no problems."

The younger lad just stared at them though, with confusion all over his face. As he watches the male Dragneels smiling at him.


	27. Episode 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this story is too OC. Well, anyway. Two more chapters to go, but I'm struggling with how should I end the story. Might complete it next year instead. Oh yeah, Still can't move on with Tenimyu

There was a knock coming from a door, and a sleeping pink-haired girl was sleeping peacefully as she frowned and smiled again in her sleep. The doorknob was twisted to open, and a red-haired man came inside his niece's room to wake her up.

With a sigh after seeing her posture, he chuckled at how her feet were propped up in the window, while her upper body was now almost halfway down to the floor.

"Natsu, wake up" Igneel called out, as she shook her back. He could hear her squirm and asked for some minutes. Before she went back to sleep again. He then took out a pan and a ladle and continued to bell them by her ears. Natsu quickly raised her upper body, only to fall face-first to the floor.

Igneel chuckled and stopped, "Well, that should at least wake you up" the man laughed and started to leave. Before he closed the door, he looked back at his niece, currently pouting at him with a glare. "Not my fault. You asked me to wake you up in any way possible"

Natsu then remembered last night, asking her Uncle to wake her up. Smiling, she let out 'thanks' and started to change.

"Better eat first before you go. Okay?" She heard him called out to her after closing the door.

Once she was down, he looked around. Looking for her brother, hoping to hitch a ride with him. But after hearing he already left, she pouted and started to eat. She then went to the front door, after placing the dirty dishes in the sink. Bidding her Uncle goodbye, who was now busy scratching his ass while watching the television.

Grabbing for her phone from her pocket, she smiled at the time. She started to head to a bus stop and rode the bus when it arrived. Humming to herself, she looked out the window as she waited for them to arrive at her stop. Minutes later, Natsu hopped out from the bus, only to bump into a blond woman.

The blond woman fell on her butt, as she cried in pain from the sudden contact. Natsu, who was able to stay still, immediately stood close to the girl in front of her and offered her hand. It was then, that Natsu realized who the girl was.

"Lucy?" she asked.

Lucy, who raised her head after hearing her name. Was surprised to see the pink-haired girl she bumped a week ago, was now in front of her.

"Natsu?"

Natsu smiled, and took her hand to hers, and pulled her to stand. Lucy let out 'thanks' and chuckled while claiming that it must be fate for them to meet again. They were busy having a short conversation when a sudden voice from behind him called out from Lucy.

"Seriously, where have you been? I thought we agreed to meet at the ticket station" a blue-haired girl was frowning at her friend.

"Sorry, Juvia. I was on my way. But I happen to bump a new friend of mine"

Juvia tilted her head to the side and was surprised to see the short-haired girl. "Oh. you must be Natsu" she smiled, as she offered her hand for a shake. Natsu smiled back and nodded her head, and shook her head as well.

"My name is Juvia. But we don't have time right now. Gray is waiting for us. Do you want to come?" the blue-haired offered with a smile. Natsu was skeptical for a bit, judging for the time. But after remembering that she purposely left three hours early before the meetup time, she nodded her head. 'Hikaru can just call me later' she grinned, as she followed them.

A raven haired lad can be seen looking around in the ticket station, waiting for their friend. After hearing from Lucy that she met a pink-haired woman with the name Natsu. He has been wanting to see and talk with her, so he can bring her back. However, instead of looking around for her, he was stuck going out with his friends for a movie.

'Tomorrow, I'll try to find her' Gray thought to himself, deep in his thoughts. It was a second later when he could feel someone had tapped him, with a frown, he turned around to be greeted by Lucy and Juvia. He was about to complain about what took them so long when he finally realized the other companion they have.

Lucy smiled and pointed towards Natsu. "Gray this is Natsu" She turned her attention to Natsu. "-and Natsu this is Gray"

They were left astounded when Gray suddenly went in between her and Juvia and was now holding Natsu by her arms. He was staring at her with a surprising look on his face. He slowly cupped the side of her cheek and asked. "Are you really Natsu?"

Natsu felt confused, and a bit awkward for suddenly having someone suddenly hold her and was cupping her cheeks. Confused, she just nodded at her dumbly and was then left shocked when the raven-haired man suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

"Um, Gray?" Lucy asked curiously with confusion mixed in her tone.

Natsu, who was currently perplexed at her situation, tilted her head to the side. Had tried to push him away, "Sorry. But do I know you?" she asked, a bit shaken aback, while still trying to get away from his hold.

Gray had then placed his hands on her shoulder. "It's me, Gray. don't you remember?"

"Ah? sorry? But have we met before?"

Gray was left in shock, and finally remembered her brother's word before he was transported. ' _There's a possibility that Natsu might not remember you. So try to find ways to make her realize that she's trapped'_ Gray then stepped back, and bowed. "I'm sorry. I think I might have got the wrong person."

"Hah?" Natsu responded slowly.

"You just look a lot like that friend of mine before, and you have the same name. So I thought you were her." He lied. ' _As if she will believe me'_ Gray thought to himself, as he apologized again.

"Is that so?" Natsu smiled and offered a hand to him. "Well, Anyway. My name is Natsu. Natsu Drageneel."

0o0o0

"Remember this Gray, there's a possibility that Natsu might not remember you and you might find yourself in a possible situation that could happen. Like, how she might be friends with her or something. So try to find ways to make her realize that she's trapped" Zeref explained, as he stood beside her sister.

Natsu was currently lying back on the bed, with her eye blinking at the ceiling. She turned her head to the side and saw two black haired males beside her. She slowly averted her eyes back to the ceiling and continued to stare.

Ignell, who was watching them as he listened to Zeref on how long Gray will be able to last in her mind.

"I would say you have an hour and a half to convince her. But don't worry. I'll try to prolong it longer, and hopefully, this will be the only time that I will use this to my sister." Zeref frowned as he averted his eyes to his sister. Igneel raised a brow, as he wondered what he meant and asked. "It will cause damage to her brain and we might lose her if I repeatedly use this spell on her." was his explanation.

"So I guess, you only have one chance and you need to do it in less than an hour and a half. '' Gray turned his eyes to the older man, "Gray, I leave her to your hands. please save my niece."

Gray nodded his head and sat down on the ground with his back leaning on the bed. He then watched the floor beneath them lighten and cold hands were placed on top of his head. It was a second later when Gray could start to feel his mind start to wander off, as he slowly closed his eyes and waited.

0o0o0

"Gray? What are you doing?"

The raven-haired lad opened his eyes, to be greeted by Lucy. He took a step back from the surprise and yelled. The blond woman pouted from his reaction and sigh. "Seriously, were you even listening to me?"

"Listen to what?" Gray asked as he wondered what Lucy was doing here.

"I told you didn't I? Come with me to buy drinks and food." Lucy turned to their new friend and asked what she preferred. Natsu just grinned and stated anything works for her. The blond woman smiled and was about to leave, but she was pulled back to her seat.

"Gray and I will order them" Juvia stated strictly to her friend and hooked her arms to his.

Gray just let out a sigh and turned to head to line up. He took a peek towards Natsu and frowned. ' _Doesn't she look a lot like that girl who I met in the male's Toilet?'_ he thought, a bit embarrassed now starting to understand why Natsu told him those words before, about him liking her way before they actually met. ' _So this whole time I've been mistreating my crush?'_ his eyes had widened after remembering all the things they did together. His face started to turn red, remembering that they once took a bath together.

"Gray? are you okay?" Juvia asked worriedly after seeing his face red.

' _But there's a possibility that it's not her. So, let's just ignore that.'_ Gray thought so deeply in his mind that the staff in front of him started to worry. Gray felt his arm being pulled, and his eyes were instant to his friend

"Are you okay? I just placed our order" The blue-haired girl frowned worriedly at him, as she dragged him back towards their seat. Gray just nodded his head in response and sat back, while they waited for their order to be served.

Lucy and Nasu were busy having a chat, as they slowly got to know each other. Gray wasn't aware though that he kept staring at the pink-haired girl's face. Natsu noticed him staring, she turned her head to him and tilted her head.

'She really is Natsu' Gray thought and smiled unconsciously. Natsu smiled back and wondered if something was funny. She turned her head behind her, and nothing seemed odd. She raised a brow and asked him again, but got no response.

Lucy, who has been observing Gray grinned. "Oh, looks like someone is having a love rival"

Juvia glared at her friend, and towards Natsu. She then grabbed Gray's shirt to get his attention. Annoyed for being ignored by Gray and him staring a lot at Natsu, made her jealous. She turned her attention back to Natsu and pointed a finger at her. "Natsu, I know that we just met, and I find you a good person. But know that Gray is mine. Got it?" she sheathed in anger.

Gray frowned at her words and sighed. 'So this Juvia is the same too'. He decided to rebuke her words, not wanting to create misunderstandings. Juvia only pouted as she fakely cried on the table, hoping that he would go along with her.

"Juvia aside. I want to ask you about something" The raven-haired lad looked at Natsu to ask.

The pink-haired girl looked back at him and asked.

"Do you happen to know anyone that goes by the name 'Hikaru'?

Natsu beamed a smile and nodded her head, "I do. Are you friends with her? Awesome, I'll be meeting up with her later. Wanna come?"

Gray was fazed about her reaction after hearing Hikaru's name. 'Possible situation that could happen' he thought as he remembered Zeref's words again. He then shook his head in response to her and stated that he doesn't.

"Ohh. I see. So how do you know her?"

Before Gray could respond though, he could see the black-haired woman behind Natsu glaring at him. Gray stood up in surprise. "You!" Gray screamed at the woman. However, he was ignored as Hikaru placed her arms around a surprised Natsu and pecked her on her cheeks.

"You should have told me that you left early" She pouted, and stood up. Her eyes back to Gray while glaring at him. She then averted her attention to their other friends and glared at the two girls. Scoffing in anger, she grabbed for Natsu's hand and forced her to stand up.

Gray instantly grabbed Natsu's hand, preventing Hikaru from walking away with her. The curly-haired woman turned back and walked back to the lad as she smiled. Natsu was confused all the while, finding her friend's reaction weird and how Gray was glaring back furiously at Hikaru. She then noticed how Hikaru was about to punch the raven-haired lad, and instantly grabbed her arm.

"Now, now. Let's all be friends" Natsu sweat drops while smiling awkwardly. She then turned her attention to Lucy and Juvia, as she apologized for the commotion. She then tried to avert Hikaru's attention away and successfully avoided causing a ruckus to the shopkeeper.

"Sorry about that Gray. We'll see you some other time?" Natsu smiled worriedly at him while waving towards him as they left. Gray, who was about to catch up to them, was pulled by Lucy and Juvia instead and was scolded for his actions.

However, the raven heard the man didn't listen, as he continued to glare to where they left. 'looks like this will be harder than I thought'. He then stood up and apologized to his friends as he left annoyed and angered. He wanted to wake Natsu up right away and remind her who that girl really is. Lucy and Juvia could only sigh at their friend, as they took their orders and immediately left. Embarrassed from the commotion they caused, and the people watching them.

0o0o0

A week had passed after the incident, and Natsu started to feel uncomfortable around Hikaru. She was possessive before, but this time it got worse after meeting her new friends. She was able to obtain their phone numbers at that time and they continued to chat through text messages. However, three days later. Hikaru had forced her to delete their numbers, but she declined.

After that, Hikaru got mad every time she was on her phone while they were near each other. She decided to use her phone only when Hikaru is not around.

"This is starting to get annoying" Natsu called out to no one.

"What is?" Zeref suddenly asked, while cooking them their dinner.

Natsu frowned as she placed the side of her head to the table. "Hikaru has been so controlling over me"

"-and why is that?"

Natsu sat up and faced her brother's back. "She doesn't want me to use my phone, whenever she's around. She wants to be aware of where I am, and she keeps on sticking by my side wherever we go."

"That's one toxic relationship you got there"

"Right? and I don't know what's wrong with her." Natsu sighs and leans her head to her prop up hands. "I sometimes feel uncomfortable when she's around."

"What do you mean?"

"I am not sure if I mentioned this to you guys before. But Hikaru sometimes steal some of my stuff"

Zeref frowned at her statement and turned off the stove.

"-and whenever I visit her house. Some of my things are in her room, I tried to ask her about it but she declined to state that she must have bought the same stuff. So I didn't question her after that. But recently I don't think something is right with her. Also, I met some new friends and when I introduced them to her. She got mad and so angry at them for no reason. Honestly, though, I sometimes get scared with her."

Zeref, who was listening intently to her troubles, released his breath. "Hikaru isn't your friend Natsu" He absentmindedly spoke, leaving Natsu confused about what he just said. She then finds it weird how Zeref tilted his head to the side and asked. "Did I say something?"

Natsu raised a brow and repeated his words. "you just told me that Hikaru isn't my friend"

Her brother had then let out a gasp, surprised by his own words. "That's weird, why did I think that. Hikaru has been your friend for so long. Anyways, no need to worry. Just give Hikaru time to know your new friends and everything will be good"

"Hahh" Natsu responded confused, as she watched her brother enter the kitchen again and continue to cook.

0o0o0

Zeref opened his eyes, sweat falling off from his head. Taking a deep breath, he slowly released it as he tried to focus again on his power. "Looks like this will be harder than I thought" he muttered, earning his Uncles' attention. "I was able to talk with Natsu for a bit, but I got cut off"

"Igneel pressed his lips while looking at Gray. "Let's just leave this to Gray"

The black-haired man nodded his head and focused more on his tasks.

0o0o0

It was a few days later when Natsu received a text message from Lucy, asking if she had time to meet. With a smile, she agreed and sent a response.

Natsu was currently sitting in a park while eating the burgers that she ordered. She stared at the pond in front of her, while enjoying her snack and waiting for her friend. She didn't have to wait long though when she heard Lucy's voice. She turned her head towards the shout and waved her hand in greeting. She was curious to find out though that Lucy wasn't alone.

"Sorry for calling you to meet up Natsu. It's just that this guy here" She pointed to Gray. "Wanted to talk with you, and I think he might have wanted to apologize on what happened last time"

"Oh, is that so. No worries though. Hikaru is at fault for suddenly starting a fight with him. I am aware of her obsessive nature towards me, and it's actually not the first she acted that way to some of my friends.

Lucy was surprised by her response, while Gray had frowned his brows.

"Though, she's not really a bad person" The pink-haired girl tried to cover for her friend while smiling awkwardly at them.

"Actually, I want to speak to you about her" The raven-haired lad spoke, and turned his attention to Lucy. "-and I want to speak with you alone"

Natsu and Lucy tilted their heads to the side, wondering why. But after a stern glance from Gray, Lucy grinned and winked an eye at him. "Then, I'll leave you two love birds alone".

"It's not that" Gray rebuked with a face red. Natsu just nodded her head to Lucy though, still confused why she had to leave. Gray averted his eyes back to Natsu and asked if they could move somewhere. With a nod, Gray started to head to an area with few people around and sat at an available bench.

Natsu sat beside him and offered him one of her burgers, which Gray denied. She then continued to eat and asked with a mouthful. "So wanted to talk about Hikari?"

Gray took a deep breath and swallowed his saliva to prepare himself. "I want to be frank and straight. So I'll tell you everything right now" He turned his eyes at her, who was busy munching on another burger after finishing the other.

"Natsu, I want you to believe me and trust me on what I am about to say."

The pink-haired girl nonchalantly responded with an okay and took a sip from her bottle of water. Gray tried to ignore her eating and sipping her water while they talked but decided to continue to speak. "You're currently trapped in Hikaru's magic, and I am inside your mind right now to bring you back"

Natsu stopped eating since her burgers were already gone. She averted her eyes to the raven harried man and tilted her head to the side, not understanding what he just said. Gray sighed from her reaction and repeated his words. It was only then when he noticed a frown forming on her face, that she started to deny what he just said.

"No, that's not true. Hikaru won't do that to me"

"Unfortunately it is. She has been in love with you when she met you, and after finding out that she can't have you. She turned you into a doll"

"That's not true" Natsu glared at Gray.

"It is, please believe me this Natsu. I wasn't lying when I said you look a lot like one of my friends, and that friend I mentioned was you. Your Brother and Uncle asked me to wake you up from your state, and I want you to realize that everything you're seeing here right now is not reality. Everything here is just Hikaru's wishes. Don't you want to meet you, Uncle and Brother, again?" he asked desperately, now holding on to her upper arms.

Natsu backed away from his aggression towards her, as she pushed him by his chest. She shook her head repeatedly as he glared at him. "NO. You're lying. My Brother and Uncle are here, and Hikaru has been my friend for so long"

"Then, do you remember how you two met?" Gray asked, his voice getting louder. Leaving Natsu in shock, realizing that she doesn't remember how they became friends. She started to remember the days when she asked her brother about Hikaru, and his response was always off, just stating that they have known for so long. She then forcefully took his hands off her and stood up.

"Anyways, I still don't believe you. Unless I will hear it from her"

"Do you think she will tell you the truth?" Gray shouted in anger. With his brows furrowed, his expression was showing how he is begging her to believe him. Natsu was surprised by the outburst and stood still, she was then left surprised when Gray stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Please Natsu, I beg you. I want you to believe me."

Natsu was silent with eyes wide from shock. She tried to peek at his face, but his hold was tight. However, she was taken aback after she heard him sniffle and the words that left his mouth. Unconsciously nodding her head, she waited for him to calm down.

**Author's Note:**

> Some might have already read it in Fanfiction, but I decided to post this story here as well. I did try my best to do some grammar check, though I'm not sure if I did a correct job at that. I'm sorry. I'm still bad at my English, though I try to improve myself.


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